Haut-Bailly in the press : Financial Times, June 17th 2011
Below is an excerpt from a nice article written by Stephen Brook and published in the "Financial Times" on June 17th.
"Château Haut-Bailly: Elegant reds that epitomise refined leafy style of the Graves"
Not far from the bustling market town of Léognan, the road leading to Cadaujac climbs a gentle slope and traverses an expanse of vines, passing many famous properties including Haut-Bailly. This estate differs from its neighbours in that its vineyards are entirely composed of red grapes, although a few rows of white grapes did survive until the 1950s. This area just south of the city of Bordeaux is the main source of the region’s best dry white wines, but Haut-Bailly sticks to what it knows best: elegant, savoury red wines that epitomise the refined leafy style of the Graves.
[...] Haut-Bailly has never been a wine that strives to impress. It is not super-ripe or overtly powerful or voluptuous. Its distinction is in its balance and harmony, qualities that allow the wine to age gracefully. Although about half the barrels in which the young wine is aged are new, Haut-Bailly rarely comes over as oaky. And if, in its youth, it can seem restrained and diplomatic, after a few years in bottle, it exudes the subtle aromas – blackcurrants, mulch, tobacco, cedar – and shows the silky texture and discreet tannins that are among its hallmarks. Great Bordeaux does not just impress; it should charm as well, and Haut-Bailly does this in spades. It is a wine that always seems to have more to give.
Other illustrious growths may be more coveted by collectors and more garlanded by some wine critics, but Haut-Bailly has legions of admirers, and purchasers, because it sells at a reasonable, though never cheap, price, and rarely disappoints, even in trickier vintages. Véronique and Vialard know that the wine’s distinction comes not from smoke and mirrors in the winery and cellar, but from the superb quality of the soils on which the grapes are planted [...]