Barde-Haut : 6 results priced between £25.00 and £1,500.00

Robert Parker note The 2012 offers up a beautifully fragrant nose of mocha, coffee beans, black cherries, black currants, spring flowers and forest floor. The complex aromatics are followed by a medium to full-bodied St.-Emilion with beautiful density and purity as well as a touch of toasty oak. Barde-Haut has been an over-achiever since the Garcin-Leveque family acquired it. Bravo! Drink the 2012 over the next 12-15 years. Owned by Helene Garcin-Leveque, this 42-acre estate, planted with 90% Merlot...

A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The Barde-Haut 2010 has a ripe nose of mulberry, blackberry and cassis with a touch of crushed violet. The palate is medium-bodied with a lot of very ripe Merlot, fleshy sweet fruit that is lacking just a little freshness and tension towards the finish. This was a very late malolactic that means the sulphur is denuding brightness a little at this stage, hence my plus sign. God knows how it tasted like to those critics who sampled it in early March. Tasted...

Wonderful concentration of ripe cassis fruit overlying an opulent and rounded, intense Merlot chocolatey style. Rich and supple on the pallate this wine will repay cellaring for several more years. Drink 2009 to 2018.

A successful effort in this vintage, Barde-Haut’s 2011 (90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc) from proprietor Helene Garcin exhibits soft black currant and black cherry fruit intertwined with hints of spice box, earth, vanillin and blue fruits. Medium-bodied with surprising density for a 2011, soft tannins, adequate acidity and a fine finish, it should age effortlessly for 10-15 years.

The owners of no less that four Chateaux - Clos L'Eglise (Pomerol), Barde-Haute (Saint Emilion) Branon (Pessac-Leognan) & Haute Bergey (Pessac-Leognan) - mother and daughter Sylviane Cathiard & Helene Garcin have catapulted themselves into the Bordeaux big league. In conjunction with Helene's husband Patrice Leveque, Team Garcin has transformed the properties by investing heavily in vineyard management and cellars themselves. Their efforts have most definitely born fruit with critical acclaim and...