WA97: The 2014 Haut Brion Blanc has a very pure bouquet with scents of peach skin, Cornice pear and those resinous/candle wax aromas that I remarked upon during en primeur. This has more sophistication than the La Mission Haut Brion Blanc, a little more tension. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky smooth entry, perfect acidity, wonderful tension and energy. Notes of orange pith, a squeeze of lime, flint and smoke are conveyed on the finish that demonstrates outstanding persistence. This is a great Haut Brion Blanc, but it will require a decade in the bottle before it will show what it can really do.

JD97: More closed and reticent than the La Mission Haut Brion Blanc, the 2014 Haut Brion Blanc is a blend of 68% Sémillon and 32% Sauvignon Blanc all brought up in barrel, with no malolactic fermentation. It reluctantly gives up notes of citrus, orange marmalade, and mint, with a liquid rock-like minerality emerging with time in the glass. Concentrated, medium to full-bodied, with bright acidity, a stacked mid-palate, and a great, great finish, it’s all promise at this point, but should start to sing in 2-3 years. It’s an insanely good dry white from Pessac that’s going to keep for two to three decades.