2023 Château Haut-Bages Libéral, Pauillac, Bordeaux

86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot. 53 hl/ha. Cask sample.

Purple hue. Slightly restrained and reduced on the nose. Fruit is present on the palate with freshness as well. Firm tannins but an austere, chalky finish. Not a great sample. Should improve.

Drink 2028 - 2040

The 2023 Haut-Bages Libéral was picked at 53hL/ha between September 12 and 30 and matured for 16 months in 40% new oak. 

The nose was quite backward when I tasted it, though Claire Villars-Lurton commented that it had just closed down the week I visited. It will be more open once in bottle. The palate is more indicative: clean, fresh, linear and nicely focused, with more grip than the Ferrière. Touches of graphite linger on the finish. This is very classically styled, and there is nothing wrong with that–a wine for Pauillac purists and those seeking wines with fewer sulfites.

Drink 2028 - 2046

It's a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot with a low pH of 3.48.

The 2023 Haut-Bages-Libéral is very promising, bursting with aromas of dark berries, cassis, pencil shavings and violets, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and suave palate with an enveloping core of fruit, lively acids typical of this limestone terroir, and sweet, powdery tannins. 

3.45pH

Great aromatics, really quite scented on the nose. Highly fragrant with purple flowers, damsons and rich black and red fruit. It has great acidity and is more juicy and fun than some Pauillacs, with lots of energy and brightness. I really feel the vivacity of this wine; straight and clean, precise, not so much weight; the straight Cabernets are doing all the talking with some wet stone minerality on the back. Friendly, lovely and precise. Approachable, this doesn’t have the seriousness of some, but this is well made with lots of freshness, mint, cedar, tobacco and liquorice on the long finish.

Drink 2030 - 2044

Intense and crunchy blue and black fruits, delivering tons of Pauillac character, reserved and well judged, juicy cassis, liqourice root, slate and cocoa bean. Delicous, a lovely vintage of this wine. Harvest September 12 to 30. 53hl/h yield, just a little higher than the already high yield of Pauillac in this vintage, no mildew. 3.48ph, 40% new oak, with the rest of one year old, pls concrete eggs and amphora. Claire Villars-Lurton owner.

Drink 2030 - 2044

The 2023 Château Haut-Bages Liberal is gorgeous, with classic Pauillac cassis, cedar, graphite notes, and a beautiful sense of minerality. More medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has a round, supple, yet focused mouthfeel, classy tannins, and an excellent finish. It's a stunning bottle of wine that will have some early accessibility yet also age gracefully.

The 2023 Haut-Bages Libéral is fabulous. Deep, layered and exquisitely beautiful, the 2023 bristles with tension. Dark red cherry, plum, spice, leather, menthol and liquorice grace a wine of depth, richness and sensuality. It's a terrific effort from proprietor Claire Villars-Lurton.

Drink 2030 - 2053

86% cabernet sauvignon and 14% merlot. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification.

A very pure and beautiful HBL with blackcurrant and mineral notes, like crushed stones, and a vivid freshness. Purity and brightness in the centre palate, with the essence of cassis and a crunchy minerality from part of the vineyard in limestone.