Description
Critical Acclaim
100 points Robert Parker, Wine Advocate
The dark garnet-colored 1961 Haut-Brion is pure perfection, with gloriously intense aromas of tobacco, cedar, chocolate, minerals, and sweet red and black fruits complemented by smoky wood. This has always been a prodigious effort (it was the debut vintage for Jean Delmas). It is extremely full-bodied, with layers of viscous, sweet fruit. This wine is akin to eating candy. Consistently an astonishing wine! (01/1998)
99 points Decanter
A recent bottle of 1961 Haut-Brion sourced from a private cellar at a dinner hosted by Christie’s confirmed the status of the wine as one of the titans of the vintage. The colour was holding well, and there was a surprising amount of primary fruit still there, with pleasant aromas of ripe plum and mulberry, accented with notes of woodsmoke, fresh saddle leather, mineral and game. The texture was refined and elegant, but there was still plenty of density, and the wine was far from being overly mature. The integration and substance demonstrated that while this was mature, it would doubtless hold at this level for the foreseeable future without danger of decline. (CC, 11/2021)
98 points Jeb Dunnuck
Drinking at point, the 1961 Haut Brion was opened and followed over the evening. This prodigious, mammoth wine is another example of true greatness in wine and thumbs its nose at all the so-called more ‘elegant’ wines today. A huge nose of sweet tobacco, applewood, cedar, wood smoke, and ample black fruits all gives way to a deep, full-bodied effort that has a stacked mid-palate and the classic, gravelly minerality and smoky character that’s the hallmark of this magical terroir. It picked up richness and depth over the evening, yet also faded slightly, so this is a case where it’s going to hold nicely going forward but is certainly not going to improve. If you have them, drink them. (03/2019)
96 points Wine Spectator
Very mature, with a smoky, even slightly burnt nuance, but powerful with ripe cherry, toast and tobacco flavors that linger on the solid, smooth finish. (HS, 04/1997)
95 points Vinous
The first of two reds was the legendary 1961 Haut-Brion. I took over cork-pulling duties and managed to gently ease it out with a waiter’s friend. (I’m a dab hand; it’s all about patience and measuring the pressure of the cork as it is extracted.) Deep in color, this showed a little funk on the nose that did not entirely blow off, though the palate was sturdy and deep, delivering pitted black olive mixed with hung game, a little feral but impressive. (NM, 05/2021)
[NOTE: 3.5cm Fill, Slightly Soiled Label]
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.