2017 La Parde de Haut Bailly

The 2017 La Parde de Haut-Bailly offers attractive brambly black fruit on the nose mixed with subtle cedar and light sea spray notes. The oak is nicely integrated (30% new). The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. There is some lovely, silky smooth black fruit here, laced with black truffle, smoke and brine, the latter getting the saliva flowing towards the finish. Very fine, especially for a Deuxième Vin.

A blend of 65% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, brought up in 30% new French for 12 months, the 2017 La Parde Haut-Bailly is another charming, classic, high-quality wine that I'd be happy to drink. Ripe black cherries, blackberries, leafy herbs, tobacco leaf, and a kiss of loamy soil all emerge from the glass, and it's medium-bodied, has plenty of fruit, a good spine of acidity, and a clean finish. It's already delicious yet will benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age and evolve for over a decade.

The 2017 La Parde Haut-Bailly was not affected by the frost since most of the parcels that were damaged went into the third wine. It has a sweet black cherry, black plum and a touch of violet, nicely defined and quite generous in terms of fruit, especially for a deuxième vin . The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannin, low acidity, rounded in texture with plush black fruit laced with a pinch of sea salt towards the finish. Very fine.