The 2006 vintage is the fruit of a very contrasted climate. During that year, the environmental conditions were changing in a very unusual manner, passing from one extreme to another, throughout the entire year right up until the end of the grape harvest. Fortunately, within this strange context, spring and summer were both, in general, hot and dry. One hundred seasonal workers, labouring day after day for three full months (early leaf-thinning at the end of June, a green harvest and then a secondary leaf-thinning), allowed wine-maker to wait patiently for the absolute peak of each variety of grape on every parcel of the vineyard. Thanks to this great work, as well as a very meticulous sorting process, the fermentation vats were filled with homogenous collection of perfectly healthy, fully-ripe berries.

Elegance would be the word that best describes this wine. There exist obvious wines which spontaneously approach you and those whose reticence oblige you to draw them out to get to know them. Chateau Haut-Brion, without a doubt, falls into the second category. Its color is a very deep red. The nose, at first reserved, opens up softly and slowly. Notes of minerals are followed by red berries, then an earthy whiff dominated by an aroma of fresh ground coffee beans. Before you know it the wine charms you with all of its incredible complexity. The mouth is silky. The treatment of this vintage's special tannins renders them astonishingly suave. Their freshness carriers them along eventually towards an unending length on the palate. One will without a doubt need great patience to await the future when one can truly profit from the potential of this great vintage of Chateau Haut-Brion.

Sum of temperatures: 3571 Celsius
Rain: 315 mm
Days where temperature above 30 Celsius: 32
Harvest: from 29/08/2006 to 29/09/2006