The 2019 Château Haut-Batailley offers up a gorgeous array of red and black currants, black raspberries, tobacco, and flowers, with more classic lead pencil and tobacco notes emerging with time in the glass. Balanced, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated, it has ripe, supple tannins, terrific mid-palate density, and a great finish.\n Producer Information\n Château Haut-Batailley is a wine estate in the Pauillac appellation in the Médoc area, north of Bordeaux city and on the left bank of the Garonne estuary. It is one of 18 estates with the status of Fifth Growth, awarded from the 1855 classification of Bordeaux. The château building, which is constructed in an almost rustic, Basque style, sits at the southwestern end of the appellation area, roughly two kilometers (1.2 miles) or so due west of Château Latour and Château Pichon Longueville-Baron. The estate was once a part of the larger, neighboring, Château Batailley which sits just to the north of Haut-Batailley. Batailley was bought in 1932 by the brothers François and Marcel Borie, who divided it in two in 1942 to avoid conflict in inheritance. François took the smaller property that did not include the physical château and named the estate Haut-Batailley. He increased the size of the estate by buying vineyards, including purchases of plots in 1951 from the Fourth Growth Château Duhart-Milon. Château Haut-Batailley is now 22 hectares (55 acres) planted predominantly to Cabernet Sauvignon as is typical of Left Bank Bordeaux. Merlot and Cabernet Franc are blended in the final cuvée but planted in smaller parcels. The grand vin is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant Bordeaux red blend, with a production close to 10,000 cases annually. The second wine is the Tour l'Aspic, named for the white tower in the vineyards on the property, constructed by the Averous sisters (whose family originally held the property in the 19th Century). The tower is also depicted on the label and La Tour l'Aspic has a production of roughly 1700 cases.
