Passions, the magazine of Chopard, published in its latest issue a very complete portrait of Prince Robert of Luxembourg, President of Domaine Clarence Dillon, owner of Château Haut-Brion and Château La Mission Haut-Brion.

We know that the owners of Château Haut-Brion have been producing a second label of their wine dating back to at least the 1700s. We are not sure by what name this wine went until the last part of the 19th century. We have a label in our collection that dates back to 1907 and that clearly gives the name: Chateau Bahans Haut-Brion.

This name was borrowed from a family that owned a portion of land that for centuries now has been part of the Chateau Haut-Brion estate. We also know that there was once a castle that went by the same name. This is the history of how our second wine came to be known as Bahans.

In 2010 Domaine Clarence Dillon will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the acquisition by Clarence Dillon of Chateau Haut-Brion. This milestone will enable us to write a new page in the modern history of our second wine.

In recognition of three quarters of a century of presence of the Dillon family at Chateau Haut-Brion, Domaine Clarence Dillon has decided to mark the occasion by renaming our second wine "Le Clarence de Haut-Brion" and by bottling our second wine in the elegant "Haut-Brion" bottle, specially engraved with the mention: "Clarence".


It was Clarence Dillon himself who fifty years ago brought this bottle design to Chateau Haut-Brion and first began using this elegant form for the 1958 vintage.

Wine lovers the world over will be able to discover "Le Clarence de Haut-Brion 2007" when they receive their first deliveries of this wine starting in December of 2009.

In 1983, the Dillon family, owners of Château Haut-Brion, acquired the neighbouring estate, Château La Misssion Haut-Brion. Over the last 25 years the entire estate has seen a renaissance. There has been enormous work in the vines and every building on the estate has been up-graded to modern standards. The final brush stroke was the construction of a modern barrel room, cellars, bottling facilities and tasting rooms which were all inaugurated in 2007. All of this is in line with the constant striving for perfection instilled into the family company, Domaine Clarence Dillon.

This quest for perfection will also be evident when wine-lovers the world over receive their first deliveries of La Chapelle de La Mission Haut-Brion 2006, (the second label of Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion) later this year.

Domaine Clarence Dillon is pleased to announce that as is the case with the first wine, the bottle of this second label will now be graced with a raised glass seal including the "La Mission cross", indicative of all wines emanating from this great estate.

This improvement will also underline the change of profile for this wine that since the 2005 vintage has benefited from the integration of Chateau La Tour Haut-Brion into its blend. The last vintage produced of La Tour Haut-Brion is the 2005.

Prince Robert of Luxembourg and the entire team at Domaine Clarence Dillon have a great affection for this most eminent of Bordeaux estates. It is for this reason that we also wish to give a much greater focus to the second label so that it may be an illustrious ambassador for its big brother.

Jean-Philippe Delmas believes that the 2005, 2006 and 2007 vintages are the best ever produced under this label.

We also feel rewarded for all of our efforts by recent praise from such wine critics as Robert Parker Jr., who has included La Chapelle in his "outstanding" category of wines for the 2007 vintage. By attributing this wine a score of 89-91, Mr. Parker recognises that La Chapelle de La Mission Haut-Brion 2007 is one of the greatest success stories in Bordeaux for this vintage!

On May 15th 26 journalists from all over the world gathered in London at the restaurant, The Square, for a super tasting of no less than 51 vintages of La Mission Haut-Brion. Prince Robert of Luxembourg extended this exceptional invitation in order to celebrate the three quarters of a century of Dillon Family ownership of the property.

Accompanying Prince Robert were Jean-Philippe Delmas, Estate Manager and Jean-Philippe Masclef, Maitre de Chai. They organized the morning with tastings composed of 7 successive flights of 6 wines. Their choices were made in order to assemble vintages with similar qualities and styles.

Forty two different vintages from the year 1953 through 2005 were served up for the appreciation of the expert palates of the attending journalists.

A lunch menu was prepared for the guests by the talented chef, Philip Howard co-owner with Nigel Platts-Martin of the restaurant, The Square.

Grilled Langoustine Tails with Gnocchi au Parmesan, Truffle butter and Mushroom puree were followed by a Whole Tail of grilled Monkfish, sliced and accompanied by Roast potatoes, and a Duxelle of Morels with garlic and rich juices. Then they served Breast of Pigeon with Creamed Cabbage accompanied by a crispy biscuit of foie gras au Madère. All was then brought to a close with a tray of good French cheese.

This delicious meal gave those present the opportunity to taste Chateau Laville Haut-Brion, the dry white wine of La Mission Haut-Brion. It was represented by four vintages, 2005, 1985, 1975, and 1966. The guests then moved on to enjoy and experience 9 exceptional years of La Mission Haut-Brion: 1975, 1961, 1959, 1955, 1945, 1929, 1982, 1989 followed by the famous vintage of 2000.

Thus came to a close this epic event which will surely have left an indelible impression on all those present on May 15th, at The Square in London.

The organization of the above would not have been possible without the help of the London Company, Farr Vintners, and in particular Mr. Tom Hudson who was the key man responsible. Clarence Dillon Wines provided the logistics of the event.

The following are links to articles written by some of those present at this vertical tasting:

• "La Mission celebrates 25 years" (Jancis Robinson)
• "La Mission Has Landed" (Neal Martin - requires membership)
• "The insider’s choice" (Financial Times)
• "One or Two La Mission HB's (bit long)" (Posted on eRobertParker.com)
• "La Mission Haut-Brion" (Tom Cannavan's Wine Pages)

Rather capricious all summer long, now the September weather has finally granted its favour to the winegrower.

Clear blue skies in Pessac during more than about twenty days enabled us to happily finish the white harvests on Tuesday, September 11th This also permitted the red grapes to reach their optimum maturity.

Then, it was another day full of sunshine when, on Tuesday September 13th, a hundred of our wine pickers were able to start cutting the young plants of merlot all over the Domaine.

Nevertheless, it was after a break of four days, on Tuesday September 18t that we finally began to harvest the best merlots of Château Haut-Brion, and then right after, on Wednesday September 19th, those of Château La Mission Haut-Brion.

Therefore, now these healthy and promising grapes, of great maturity and a nice balance of sugar / acidity are filling both the vats of Château Haut-Brion and Château La Mission Haut-Brion.

It was early afternoon on August 28th when the first click of the sheers began the harvest by gathering the Sauvignon blanc grapes in a parcel named "Pinson Sapinette".

An innovation that morning had the pickers already there, passing along the rows of vines, equipped with blowers to eliminate the morning dew and facilitate the handpicking of absolutely dry bunches.

They were followed by a group of about twenty pickers who proceeded to harvest only the ripest bunches. Then there came a meticulous and selective picking which eliminated any damaged berries.

In summing up, the first results are promising with good concentration and a potential alcoholic degree of more than 14.

It is a good start for our 2007 harvest time!

The Crus Classés de Graves celebrate their Accabailles at the Château la Mission Haut-Brion on Sunday, 10 December 2006

"Accabailles"... This rather mysterious term denotes the traditional meal at the end of the Bordeaux harvest.

This year, the Union des Crus Classés de Graves had chosen the newly renovated Château La Mission Haut-Brion as the setting for the seventeenth year of this traditional celebration where the greatest names from European gastronomy are honoured.

The November issue of France Today magazine contains an article entitled "Haut-Brion, Vineyard Diplomacy". You can read it in PDF format by clicking on the image below. Now in its 21st year of publication, France Today: the Journal of French Travel and Culture furnishes expert social reportage and travel advice to a readership of cosmopolitan Francophiles.