Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2024 Pessac-Léognan

James Suckling
(97-98)/100 punten
This is always an idiosyncratic wine. This year it’s stunning, with a unique floral aspect and excellent depth of pure blue fruit, mulberries, dried herbs and white pepper. So juicy and mouthwatering on the palate, with a medium to full body and fine tannins. There is a crystalized mouthfeel, but the tannins are fresh and well knit. This is already delicious, which indicates its superb balance. 48% cabernet franc, 29% cabernet sauvignon and 23% merlot.

Antonio Galloni, Vinous
(95-97)/100 punten
Seamless and silky in the glass, with superb balance, the 2024 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is one of the wines of the vintage. All the elements are so well balanced, always a sign of a superior vintage at this address. Floral notes, spice, leather and mocha run through a core of layered, beautifully persistent dark red fruit. Harvest took place between September 17 and 25, during one of the rare windows with little rain. As always, Les Carmes is done with a high percentage of stems (52%), specifically 100% for the Cabernet Franc, 50% for the Merlot and 20% for the Cabernet Sauvignon. Aging is 70% new oak barrels, 19% 18HL foudres and 11% amphora. New oak is already very nicely integrated, another sign of a superb vintage. The 2024 is a brilliant effort by the team led by Technical Director Olivier Pouthier.

Neal Martin, Vinous
(94-96)/100 punten
The 2024 Les Carmes Haut-Brion contains more Cabernet Franc at 48% of the blend. Picked between September 17 and 27 using 52% whole bunch, this is aged in 70% new barrels, 19% new foudres and 11% amphora. This has impressive fruit concentration on the nose with redcurrant and blackberry fruit, hints of cassis and a dab of dark chocolate. Fine delineation. After time, there is something that nods to the Northern Rhône without losing typicité. The palate is medium-bodied and fresh with fine tannins, a subtle pepperiness imparted by the whole bunches and a tingle of pain d'épices towards the finish. Very harmonious and very delicious, this should provide 20 to 25 years of drinking pleasure. 13.2% abv.

Lisa Perrotti Brown, The Wine Independent
(95-97)/100 punten
Deep garnet-purple colored. Slowly unfurls to reveal classic Franc notes of red currant jelly, fresh blackberries, and pencil shavings, followed by hints of rose oil, fragrant soil, and crushed rocks. The light to medium-bodied palate shimmers with electric red and black berry flavors, framed by firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. Nice!

Jeb Dunnuck
(94-97)/100 punten
The 2024 Château Carmes Haut-Brion comes from 7.8 hectares of vines in the heart of Pessac and is 48% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance 23% Merlot that was vinified with 52% whole clusters and will spend two years in 70% new barrels as well as smaller portions in vats and amphora. It's one of the darker-hued wines in the vintage and has a terrific nose of ripe black fruits, smoky earth, violets, crushed stone, and hints of lead pencil. It's medium to full-bodied, has ultra-fine tannins, a layered, seamless mouthfeel, and a great finish. I think it's clearly one of the top wines in the vintage.

Peter Moser, Falstaff
95/100 punten
Anfangs sehr verschlossen im Duft, öffnet dann auf: zu Heidelbeere, Herzkirsche und schwarzem Pfeffer. Die Gaumenstruktur setzt geschmeidig an, entfaltet dann einen sehr homogenen, feinen Gerbstoffdruck, außer einer recht präsenten Säure zeigt der Wein nur geringe Anzeichen des Jahrgangstyps. Die Frucht hallt mit großer Reintönigkeit und Länge nach, auch die Mineralität ist gut präsent.

The Wine Cellar Insider
(94-96)/100 punten
Showing one of the deepest colors of the vintage, the wine pops with flowers, black cherries, licorice, smoke, chocolate, and plums in the aromatic profile. The wine is supple, spicy, and fragrant in the mouth, leaving you with sweet, spicy, peppery, black cherries, marine influences, and crushed rocks which come through in the mid-palate, through to the finish. The wine was made using 52% whole bunch clusters, blending 48% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 23% Merlot, 13.2% ABV, pH 3.6. The wine is aging in a combination of 70% new, French oak, 19% foudres and 11% amphora. Picking took place September 17- September 27. Drink from 2027-2047.

William Kelley, Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
(93-96)/100 punten
One of the most impressive wines of the vintage, the 2024 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a striking effort that sets itself apart with seamless integration, even at this early stage, and a strong sense of identity. Poised, precise and unmistakably singular, it opens in the glass with a perfumed bouquet of iris, violet, dark berries, cherries, vine smoke and gentian. Medium to full-bodied, supple and notably fleshy for the vintage, it’s layered and textural, with a sappy, enveloping core of pure, vibrant fruit framed by finely grained, velvety tannins, culminating in a long, precise and gently stemmy finish. This is one of the rare wines of the vintage where sappiness is expressed with such finesse and charm, thanks in no small part to meticulous vineyard work and severe sorting in the winery. The blend is composed of 48% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot, and it's maturing in a combination of 70% new oak, 19% foudres and 11% amphorae.

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
94/100 punten
Inky depths to the colour, touch of reduction on the opening as is often the case with En Primeur Carmes, this delivers energy, density, clarity. Austerity on the finish, but plenty of interest, savoury and muscular juicy black fruits, expect a wine that is built around about texture, architecture and savour, which is not something that I have found in many bottles in the vintage. 90% new oak, split between barrels and casks, 11% amphoras. Harvest 17 to 27 September. 3.61 pH, clay and limestone, 60 years old average vine age. 46hl/H yield in vineyard, 41hl/h after picking selection, then 24hl/h after cellar selection. All press used, no chaptilisation