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Château Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 1989
The prodigious 1989 Haut-Brion is one of the greatest first-growths I have ever tasted. It has always reminded me of what the 1959 must have tasted like in its youth, but it is even richer and more compelling aromatically. The wine exhibits an opaque ruby/purple color, as well as a sweet nose of jammy fruit, tobacco, spicy oak, minerals, and smoke. Fabulously concentrated, with huge levels of fruit, extract, and glycerin, this wine is nearly viscous because of its thickness and richness. Low acidity gives the wine even more appeal and adds to its precociousness... Robert Parker
Ratings on Delectable
Conrad Green 
From mag. Meaty with dark gnarly fruit. Very pure and intense. Lovely savory midpalate. Amusing and long.
From mag. Meaty with dark gnarly fruit. Very pure and intense. Lovely savory midpalate. Amusing and long.
9.7
Garen Staglin
Perfect. Complex nose. Nice mouth feel. Not many years left.
Perfect. Complex nose. Nice mouth feel. Not many years left.
9.7Conrad Green
Gorgeous plush spectacular fruit. Plum, deep sexy black cherry. Really lush and delicious. Great
Gorgeous plush spectacular fruit. Plum, deep sexy black cherry. Really lush and delicious. Great
9.7
Peter van den Besselaar
Vintage 1989 | 3/4 transparant, Italian rooftiles brown rim. A very intense bouquet: cedar, forrest wood, laurel, flint, cherries, só multi layered you tend to smell endless. Powerful taste, prominent bitters, still too young imo, the taste comes together with the entrecôte, awesome harmony. A benchmark for wine lovers. Fine that HB delivers to mark a special moment! I bought this when my daughter was born | at restaurant Pollevie
Vintage 1989 | 3/4 transparant, Italian rooftiles brown rim. A very intense bouquet: cedar, forrest wood, laurel, flint, cherries, só multi layered you tend to smell endless. Powerful taste, prominent bitters, still too young imo, the taste comes together with the entrecôte, awesome harmony. A benchmark for wine lovers. Fine that HB delivers to mark a special moment! I bought this when my daughter was born | at restaurant Pollevie
9.9
Ed Lehrman
Very good but was expecting more. Seemed a little tired.
Very good but was expecting more. Seemed a little tired.
9.2
Mark Royer
Classic pencil, slight cedar, hint of bell pepper . Still going strong
Classic pencil, slight cedar, hint of bell pepper . Still going strong
9.7
Matt Duncan
Much better than the last bottle. Cork was ideal and maintained round quality last bottle lacked. Still not quite as defined as the 1990 at this point, but a real treat all the same.
Much better than the last bottle. Cork was ideal and maintained round quality last bottle lacked. Still not quite as defined as the 1990 at this point, but a real treat all the same.
9.3
Mike Saviage
Wanted to put up a future all-time great against two all-time great HBs... the 45 and the 61. Opened and decanted this 9 hours before serving. Light tawny color, translucent and darker than the other HBs. Intense nose with notes of black cherry, black raspberry, hickory, gravel, moist soil, some mocha and some menthol. Huge and powerful in the mouth. Still tannic and young at age 31. Almost port-like. This is easily a 75 year wine, like the 45 sitting next to it - a wine that it can probably surpass as it gains more age, weight, advanced notes and complexity. (Bday 11 of 13)
Wanted to put up a future all-time great against two all-time great HBs... the 45 and the 61. Opened and decanted this 9 hours before serving. Light tawny color, translucent and darker than the other HBs. Intense nose with notes of black cherry, black raspberry, hickory, gravel, moist soil, some mocha and some menthol. Huge and powerful in the mouth. Still tannic and young at age 31. Almost port-like. This is easily a 75 year wine, like the 45 sitting next to it - a wine that it can probably surpass as it gains more age, weight, advanced notes and complexity. (Bday 11 of 13)
9.7
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I’ve been following this wine since I first tasted it from barrel in the summer of 1990, and it has always been an amazing wine and one of the best examples of this remarkable vintage. This particular bottle, which I helped to drink alongside a superb, dry-aged prime porterhouse at one of the New York City area’s best steakhouses, Rothmann’s on Long Island, might have been the best I’ve ever had. The textbook iron, tobacco and cigar box Haut-Brion character was there in abundance, but this time there was also an almost Burgundian laciness and buoyancy to the wine that I’ve not experienced before. Even at almost 30 years old, it still has a long life ahead of it, but based on this bottle I wouldn’t begrudge anyone opting to drink it right now. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, January 219)
I’ve been following this wine since I first tasted it from barrel in the summer of 1990, and it has always been an amazing wine and one of the best examples of this remarkable vintage. This particular bottle, which I helped to drink alongside a superb, dry-aged prime porterhouse at one of the New York City area’s best steakhouses, Rothmann’s on Long Island, might have been the best I’ve ever had. The textbook iron, tobacco and cigar box Haut-Brion character was there in abundance, but this time there was also an almost Burgundian laciness and buoyancy to the wine that I’ve not experienced before. Even at almost 30 years old, it still has a long life ahead of it, but based on this bottle I wouldn’t begrudge anyone opting to drink it right now. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, January 219)
9.8Ian Staub
Father-in-law has been sitting on this bottle since release, on the occasion of my wife’s birth. First time experiencing a bottle of this magnitude, and it hit all the notes expected. Core of rich ripe dark fruit wrapped in gauzy layers of tobacco, leather, dusty earth and incense. Palate is rich and intense, almost oily in its concentration. Still plenty of freshness and acidity pushing through to the finish. FIL still has a few bottles of equal acclaim and age kicking around - obviously looking forward to the next.
Father-in-law has been sitting on this bottle since release, on the occasion of my wife’s birth. First time experiencing a bottle of this magnitude, and it hit all the notes expected. Core of rich ripe dark fruit wrapped in gauzy layers of tobacco, leather, dusty earth and incense. Palate is rich and intense, almost oily in its concentration. Still plenty of freshness and acidity pushing through to the finish. FIL still has a few bottles of equal acclaim and age kicking around - obviously looking forward to the next.
9.5
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