Haut Batailley 2013 re-visited

The Château Haut-Batailley 2013, a wine ready for immediate enjoyment, presents a deep ruby colour with a tight rim. It is a dense, fruit-intense example, featuring fleshy blackberry and boysenberry flavours with robust Pauillac tannins. The wine evolves towards a precise style, revealing lively blood orange and pomegranate tones, crunchy cassis, thyme, spice, coffee bean scents, and a hint of toast. It is crisp, bright, and spicy, finishing with a light red berry note. This elegant St Julien-style wine is well-balanced, with 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot grapes, and is matured in 60% new oak. The wine has a medium finish and a modest alcohol by volume (ABV) of 13%. It is not a full-bodied Pauillac.

This Château Haut-Batailley 2013 has been rated DD91 and RP90, with the 2010 vintage receiving an RP91, making the 2013 scores quite respectable.

The Château Haut-Batailley 2013 is a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot, harvested from October 2nd to October 10th at a rate of 31 hectoliters per hectare (hl/ha). It has a light and slightly leafy bouquet with hints of bay leaf and undergrowth, and while it lacks vigour at this stage, it gains cohesion towards the finish. The palate is medium-bodied with a saline character at the entry, reminiscent of Lynch Bages, and it maintains a classic style with a touch of austerity lingering on the aftertaste. This assessment is based on a tasting conducted in April 2014—deep ruby with a tight rim. A fruit-intense, dense example from 2013, this bottle gives a good sense of fleshy blackberry and boysenberry with robust Pauillac tannins, facilitating a development towards a precise style. The second nose points to lively blood orange and pomegranate tones, crunchy cassis, thyme, spice and coffee bean scents, and toast; the wine is crisp, bright and spicy, finishing with a light red berry note. This Pauillac with St Julien personality and elegance is ready for immediate consumption. It remains an attractive quintessential Pauillac that is well-balanced using two grapes(76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot, matured in 60% new oak) and gripping with a medium finish. ABV is a mere 13%. If you want a full-bodied Pauillac, this bottle is for someone else.

We accord it a DD91. It's an RP90. Considering that its 2010 vintage is an RP91, 2013 scores are pretty decent and excellent value.

RP90 is from Parker, who writes that the Château Haut-Batailley 2013 blends 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot, picked from 2 to October 10th at 31hl/ha. It has a light and slightly leafy bouquet with touches of bay leaf and undergrowth. It is missing a little vigour at this stage. The palate is medium-bodied, with a saline character at the entry (like Lynch Bages). It gains cohesion towards the finish, remaining resolutely 'classic' in style with a nice touch of austerity lingering on the aftertaste. RP et al. tasted April 2014.