Chateau Haut Batailley Pauillac 2012 750ml
The Wine Advocate | RP 92
Published: Mar 24, 2015
Long owned by Xavier Borie, this Pauillac estate sits next to Batailley and is just south of Borie's other famous Chateau, Grand-Puy-Lacoste. The 2012, dramatically better from bottle than barrel, is bigger boned, richer and more flamboyant than this wine normally tends to be. The color is a healthy purple, and the wine offers plenty of cassis and licorice as well as a touch of incense. The oak from barrel-aging 18 months is largely obscured. Medium to full-bodied and impressively endowed, it comes off like a hypothetic blend of a St.-Julien and Pauillac, but this is a classic 2012 that is full, rich and impressive, with beautifully sweet tannins. Drink it over the next 20 years.