2020, Château Haut-Batailley, PAUILLAC, 5ème Grand Cru Classé

Bordeaux Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot.

The 2020 Haut-Batailley, matured in 60% new oak for 14 months, has a vivacious nose with mint-infused blackberry and raspberry fruit, a light pencil lead note underneath. Certainly one of the more intense aromatics in Pauillac with disarming purity. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and a wonderful bead of acidity keeping it tensile throughout. There's a sweet core of plummy fruit, hints of orange rind towards the finish that contains plenty of energy. Excellent. 94 Neal Martin, Vinous. 

The 2020 Haut-Batailley is a huge, somber Pauillac, just as it was from barrel. Huge swaths of tannin wrap around a core of black fruit, gravel, incense, tobacco, smoke, cured meats and charcoal embers. Readers will have to be patient. I imagine the 2020 will always be a big, virile wine, certainly more about power than finesse. 93 Antonio Galloni, Vinous. 

Clear salinity and the fennel aniseed tough that I get in Verso de Haut-Batailley also. Gorgeous texture here, this has real balance and a sense of careful walking through the palate, a juice and a tension, with a saline kick. An enjoyable sleek wine, not as powerful as the Lynch Bages, and not intended to be either. Some chocolate notes as it opens, but this has an elegance to it that almost makes it more of a St-Julien, certainly not the powerhouse Pauillac that you get in Lynch Bages. Harvest from September 14 to 29. 3.85pH, 60% new oak, for 14 months. The Cazes family has almost doubled the size of the vineyard since taking over, up to 39ha. 93 Jane Anson, Decanter.

The 2020 Haut-Batailley is rich and demonstrative, offering up aromas of blackberries and cherries framed by sweet spices, smoke and new oak. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, it's broad and expansive, with more overt ripeness, body and texture than was formerly the case for this estate.  92 William Kelley, Wine Advocate.

A blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot aging in French oak barriques, 60% new, the 2020 Haut-Batailley weighs in with 13.6% alcohol, a pH of 3.85 and an IPT of 81. Deep purple-black in colour, it opens with seducing, beautifully pure notes of blackcurrant jelly, juicy blackberries and warm plums, plus hints of chocolate mint, lilacs and forest floor with a touch of ground cloves. The refreshing, medium-bodied palate gives a great burst of crunchy black berries, framed by finely grained tannins, finishing with a minty lift. 92-94 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate.

Drinking Window: 2028 - 2048