Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2006
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Wine
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James
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Robert
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 55% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Vibrantly fruity wine that shows freshness. It has lift, fresh blackcurrants, layers of acidity, while the tannins hide in the background.
Barrel Sample: 90-92 -
James Suckling
A tight, very firm red with earth, currant, iron and stone aromas and flavors. Medium body, reserved tannins and a fresh, linear finish. Old-style Bordeaux. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Another beautiful example of minerality, finesse, elegance, and complexity, this earthy, spicy 2006 exhibits sweet raspberry and red currant fruit accompanied by hints of barbecue smoke and tobacco leaf. Medium-bodied, pure, and not terribly powerful, it is built around delicacy and purity. Give it 2-4 years of bottle age, and drink it over the following 15 years.
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Wine Spectator
Displays floral and raspberry aromas, with wet stone. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Stylish. Very well-made. Best after 2011.
Other Vintages
2022-
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Jeb
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James
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James
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Jeb
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Robert
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Jeb
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James
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Robert
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Jeb
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James
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Robert
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Wilfred
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Jeb
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Spectator - Decanter
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James
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Robert
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- Decanter
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James
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Jeb
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Robert
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Jeb
Dunnuck - Vinous
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James
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Wine
Spectator - Decanter
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Robert
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Connoisseurs'
Guide
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Wine
Enthusiast -
James
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Wine
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Robert
Parker
In 1584, he therefore donated a water-mill, surrounded by meadows and wines, to the Carmelites of Haut-Brion.
The Friars kept the name "Haut-Brion" for 200 years, before common usage gradually changed it into "Carmes Haut-Brion".
It was bought at the beginning of the last century by Léon Colin, a wine negociant in Bordeaux and a direct ancestor of the current owners, the Chantecaille-Furt family.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.