Structured, powerful, balanced, a fabulous Haut-Bailly that speaks of the effortless elegance of this place, yet with the concentration and power of the vintage. Great stuff, just a stunning wine. Denis Dubourdieu last year as consultant, Gabriel Vialard winemaker, Véronique Sanders director, 55% new oak for ageing.

I obviously underrated the 2016 Château Haut-Bailly on release, and it easily tops out my scale. A hypothetical blend of the 2009 and 2010, it has the opulence and sexiness of a ripe, sunny vintage (à la 2009) paired with incredible purity, concentration, structure, and elegance (à la 2010). Incredible aromatics of cassis, liquid violets, cedar pencil, flowers, and minerals give way to a full-bodied, multi-dimensional, layered Haut-Bailly offering ultra-fine tannins, flawless overall balance, nothing out of place, and the class to drink well today yet evolve for 30-40 years. Absolute perfection in wine, this is a modern-day Legend from director Veronique Sanders.

Incense, dried herb and dark fruit aromas. Very precise and vibrant, with great definition and detail. Fruit, acidity and tannins work together to give the wine a chiseled, youthful and energetic profile. A pleasure to taste now, but will hold. Drink or hold. 10 Years On retrospective.

The 2016 Haut-Bailly is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. The nose opens with beautiful floral notes of violets and lavender accented with earthy notions and sparks of crushed rocks over a core of kirsch, cassis and wild blueberries. Full-bodied, rich and seductive, it has layer upon layer of red, black and blue fruits intermingled with earth and mineral hints leading to a very long, perfumed finish.- Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Refined, elegant, brilliant. Spring rain and a dry, sunny summer and autumn meant perfectly ripe grapes, a growing season CEO Véronique Sanders dubbed Le Bonheur (‘a delight’). This sumptuous, smooth red has just about everything: concentration, power, richness, floral and tobacco leaf scents, dark berry and cassis flavours, a plush texture, and long, polished tannins.Haut-Bailly is cru classé for red only.

Dark in color, this is already just great. The wine offers a hint of truffle, tobacco, smoke, cigar box, crème de cassis and dark cherries. The wine is concentrated, full-bodied, elegant classic and fresh. The tannins are ripe, refined and need time to soften. This is not a wine for early drinking pleasure. It will take at least a decade to soften, fill-out and develop its nuances and complexities. With patience, this is going to be a stunning wine and could very likely earn a higher score. Fans of Haut-Bailly should definitely have this gem in the their cellar. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2016&wine=Chateau%20Haut-Bailly

Haut-Bailly offers a fine and round nose, very classic with wonderful sweetness and mature fruits. There are notes of cedar, spices, oysters and crunchy cabernet sauvignon followed by notes of salt and seawater. The 2016 Haut-Bailly is an impressive glass of wine, very well composed and subtle. It will be on top for the next 25+ years but you can already now approach it with sufficient decanting.

From an always-impressive estate, this vintage is superb, offering big tannins plus but also generous black fruits and powerful ripeness. Dense and with a good structure for aging, the wine will develop slowly and will not be ready before 2026. — Roger Voss

The 2016 Haut-Bailly has a lovely bouquet with vivid black fruit, briar and crushed rose petal scents, the oak beautifully intertwined. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid black fruit, cedar and black olive. Fine depth, gentle grip, this feels quite backward towards the finish. Real character here. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.- Neal Martin

This is energetic and grippy, with tar and melted licorice notes wrapped around a core of bramble, red currant paste and black cherry preserve flavors. The tarry edge reemerges on the finish, working with a singed apple wood element to give this solid drive through the finish. Best from 2023 through 2038. 7,500 cases made.