Château Haut-Brion is the oldest of the great Bordeaux estates, documented from 1533, and the only property outside the Médoc ranked a first growth in 1855. Samuel Pepys drank « Ho Bryan » in a London tavern in 1663 and wrote it down — the first time in history a wine was named for its estate rather than its region.

The vineyard sits on a gravel mound in Pessac, now surrounded by the suburbs of Bordeaux. The city keeps it warm, and it ripens earlier than the Médoc. The blend leans more heavily on Merlot than its peers, which is much of why Haut-Brion tastes rounder and more perfumed than the Cabernet estates to the north.

The estate has belonged to the Dillon family since Clarence Dillon bought it in 1935.

Le Clarence is the second wine of the château, named for Clarence Dillon and made from the parcels and vats that do not go into the grand vin. It carries the same hand and the same gravel, at roughly a fifth of the price.

2015 was the vintage that brought Bordeaux back into favour after a difficult run — warm and dry, with the Right Bank and the Graves particularly successful. Merlot-led estates like this one were among the winners.

Plum and blackcurrant over cigar box and that warm gravel note the appellation always gives; round and supple on the palate, the tannins velvety, closing savoury and faintly smoky. Ready now.