2016 Le Clarence de Haut Brion Pessac Léognan

Château Haut Brion is the first wine in Bordeaux to be sold under the château name. Its history dates back to 1525, when Jean de Pontac received 5 hectares of vineyards as a dowry at his wedding. Later, his son Arnaud inherited the château, which was later bought by Joseph de Fumel. However, Joseph de Fumel was executed during the French Revolution in Place Gambetta in Bordeaux. From there, it was 1935 before the modern era of Haut Brion began. American businessman Clarence Dillon had traveled to Bordeaux to buy Château Cheval Blanc. However, he got lost on the way and arrived at Château Haut Brion, which he ended up buying instead. His granddaughter Joan took over in 1975 and today it is her son, Robert de Luxembourg, who heads the wine company Domaines Clarences Dillon A/S. The company also owns the iconic châteaux La Mission Haut Brion and Quintus. The winemaker is the Delmas family - today the 2nd and 3rd generation. The Delmas family is a world-renowned family who have also worked at Cos d'Estournel. Today they are both at Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. The chateau is recognized for being the first chateau in Bordeaux to make real age-worthy wine. This started with Haut Brion introducing longer barrel aging periods and barrel top-ups with complementary wine. It is also believed that Château Haut Brion was the first wine estate in Bordeaux to carry out château bottling. The château consists of 50 hectares of vineyards, 3 hectares of which are reserved for green (white) grape pressing. Situated in a picturesque location, just five kilometers from the city center of Bordeaux, the vines are planted on slopes up to 27 meters high, in a soil of gravel, clay and sand. The vines are on average 36 years old - the oldest close to 90 years old. The wine has been around since 2007, and was previously called Bahans Haut-Brion, which made its debut in 1976. Before this, Bahans was a non-vintage wine, blended from different vintages. The name was changed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Dillon family's purchase of the château. Today, Le Clarence garners huge international ratings and has created huge hype and demand, making it one of the hardest wines to source in all of Bordeaux. Big, big wine. Translated using AI.