Château Haut-Bailly
About Château Haut-Bailly
Château Haut-Bailly has had cultivated vines since 1461. Bought by the American Wilmers family in 1998; they kept the previous owners, the Sanders family, as estate managers with the brilliant Veronique Sanders as Managing Director. Together this team makes some of the softest most charming wines in the appellation.
Viniculture
Wines of Château Haut-Bailly’s are known for their consistency, which can be attributed to its excellent terroir in Pessac-Léognan and to the sheer effort and meticulous care taken to ensure excellence in quality. Its vineyard sits on the highest ridge in Pessac with a gentle gradient where the grapes from the 120-year old vines get the best exposure. Vines are individually marked, pruned and picked according to variety and age. And when the fruit arrives at the winery, grapes are hand-sorted to ensure only perfect grapes are used. All these measures translate into one of the biggest strengths of Haut-Bailly, which, according to Véronique Sanders (Director, Haut-Bailly), is that they “always outperform" in the region.
Since the stunning vintages of 2009 and 2010, Haut-Bailly has re-separated itself from the Pessec-Léognan pack to command higher scores and prices than many of its neighbours. We write “re-separate” because for a period up to 1920 Haut-Bailly actually sold at the same price as the First Growths! The 30ha vineyard has 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.
