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The May 2022 Auction: Part 4

Auction # 712 | View Auction Schedule and Details
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Auction Ends: 5/26/2022 6:00:00 PM PDT

Lot #99. Haut-Brion Blanc 2017

Description: Consists of 3 Bottles, 0.75L
Score: 99+ WA.
"Composed of 56.2% Sauvignon Blanc and 43.8% Sémillon, the 2017 Blanc sashays out of the glass with gregarious notions of peach preserves, pineapple tart and orange blossoms with touches of musk perfume, candied ginger and allspice. Medium-bodied, the palate reveals a gorgeous satiny texture with amazing citrus and tropical fruit intensity and a seriously racy backbone carrying the layers to a very long, impactful finish. Give this a few more years to really flaunt its stuff, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this warrants the full three-digits. Bravo! At Château Haut-Brion and neighboring La Mission Haut-Brion, only about one hectare out of around 80 hectares of vineyards was damaged by frost in 2017. It seemed that in the areas where there was a little wind, there was no frost. Budbreak was on March 13—not so early for this warm little pocket of vineyards close to the city—but the evolution of the vines was certainly faster than usual for the rest of the spring. It was a very dry, warm spring with even flowering. At the end of June, there was some rain to quench the parched vines, then July was a little cooler, according to Jean-Philippe Delmas. By mid-September, after the whites had already come in, the rains became an issue. The Merlot was almost all in before the rain, but the Cabernet Franc was affected and not much was used this year. Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested after the rains. Overall yields averaged out at a very respectable 49.6 hectoliters per hectare. While the reds are incredibly impressive at both properties in 2017, I have to confess that I was completely blown away by the caliber of the whites. WOW! Possessing at once electric intensity and yet bags of tightly wound layers just waiting to be expressed over many years of cellaring, this is a truly spectacular vintage for the dry whites at both estates." Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate Interim, Mar 2020
Provenance: The Blue Chip Cellar
Lot Location: Orange County
Estimate: $2,750

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