2012 La Clarte De Haut Brion

La Clarté de Haut-Brion is a white Bordeaux produced as a second wine of both Château Haut-Brion and Château La Mission Haut Brion. The wine is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon with grapes grown at both estates, and reviewers compliment it for its “lively palate laced with mineral accents and finishing with impressive persistence.” Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut Brion are owned by Domaine Clarence Dillon, a family company with a 90-year history in Bordeaux as financiers and vignerons. The family owns several important Bordeaux estates, including Château Quintus, and a renowned restaurant and wine shop in Paris.

Pessac-Léognan was created in 1987 from the northern part of the left bank Graves appellation. Before then it was simply part of Graves, or sometimes it was called Haut-Graves. Unlike many other Bordeaux appellations, Pessac-Léognan is known for both red and dry white wines, although its reds are more famous. The appellation includes ten communes and the area’s most important châteaux, including Château Haut-Brion, the only non-Médoc estate included in the 1855 Bordeaux classification. There are 2,964 acres of vineyards in Pessac-Léognan and 16 classified growth estates. The main red grapes grown are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, along with a small amount of Cabernet Franc. White grapes grown are Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, with a little Muscadelle. Pessac-Léognan is considered to have the best terroir of the greater Graves region.