The Producer

Chateau Haut-Brion

Château Haut-Brion  is a French wine, rated a Premier Grand Cru Classé (First Growth), produced in Pessac just outside the city of Bordeaux. It differs from the other wines on the list in its geographic location in the north of the wine-growing region of Graves. Of the five first growths, it is the only wine with the Pessac-Léognan appellation and is in some sense the ancestor of a classification that remains the benchmark to this day.

When he purchased Château Haut-Brion in 1935, Clarence Dillon restored it to its former glory and to the elite circle of the most legendary wines in the world. This extraordinary, bold, courageous vision is now continued by the fourth generation of the family, represented by Prince Robert of Luxembourg, Chairman since 2008.
Located in the town of Pessac, just a few kilometres from Bordeaux, Château Haut-Brion – the first of the three estates acquired by the Dillon family – is the oldest winegrowing property in the region.

The property is situated just opposite that of Château La Mission Haut-Brion and shares the same gravelly and elevated terrain ideal for cultivating vines already referred to Haut-Brion on ancient maps and deeds. The nature of the gravel at Château Haut-Brion, consisting of small stones of various types of quartz, is a key element contributing to the particularly valuable wine-growing potential of the soil. The gravel soil lies on a single subsoil of clay, sand, limestone and falun (limestone shell) established at the end of the Tertiary era, then during the Quaternary era throughout the Ice Ages. From 20 centimetres to over 3 metres thick, the gravel deposits form slopes that enjoy excellent exposure, with natural drainage reinforced by a large hydrographic network of small water courses, as the Peugue or the Serpent, tributaries of the Garonne.

The Region

Pessac-Leognan

The commune (or Bordeaux suburb) of Pessac lies just to the south of these chateaux. Léognan lies 10 kilometers (six miles) further on. The latter is also home to several other quality members of the Bordeaux elite. These include Domaine de Chevalier, and Chateaux Haut-Bailly, Malartic-Lagravière, Larrivet Haut-Brion and de Fieuzal. Léognan is surrounded almost entirely by pine forests and vineyards, and benefits from the same superior drainage as Pessac.

Southeast of Léognan lies the commune of Martillac. Smith Haut Lafitte has made massive improvements since the 1990s, and boasts an impressive hotel and spa. Latour-Martillac, in the very south of the Pessac-Léognan zone is another chateau on the upgrade.