Château Larrivet Haut-Brion 2014

Critic scores

• Wine Enthusiast95
• Vinous91

The 2014 vintage in Pessac-Léognan

Vintage benchmark: 90/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A gloomy summer redeemed by an Indian summer: the cabernets are radiant and the freshness is true to the Médoc.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pessac-Léognan. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

Dark, dense red color. The nose has great potential which needs to open in the next years. It opens with mineral notes, mixed with smoky and toasty aromas, zan and spices complicate the aromatic palette. The palate is full; the tannins are still a little tight but with great elegance and style. The finish is long and elegant.

Blend of the 2014 vintage

Figures from the 2014 sheet

• 25 yrsVine age
• 180,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Manual & mechanical harvest at optimum maturity (from 19 September to 18 October), transport of grapes in baskets, hand sorting before destemming and Pellenc optical sorting before crushing. The winery is equipped with temperature-controlled stainless steel vats permitting vinification plot by plot: traditional vinification at high temperature (28-32°C) with 3-4 pumping over per day, long maceration (25-30 days).

Ageing

Air-conditioned cellar, traditional racking. Aged 14 to 18 months, one third in new oak barrels, one third in barrels previously used for one wine, and one third in barrels previously used for two wines. Egg white fining before a light filtration and bottling at the Château.

Terroir

Léognan. Deep gravelly and sandy soil overlying a clay substratum.