The ruby colour retains a vibrant core, aromatics flirting with tertiary, softened raspberry and brambled blackberry fruits, campfire and grilled cedar smoke, this is balanced and effortless while building in concentration through the glass, layering up with pulses of black pepper, rosemary, oyster shell, pomegranate and mandarin. The 2000 vintage took its time but it is now seriously in its stride. Harvest September 13 to October 11. Denis Dubourdieu consultant, Véronique Sanders director and CEO as of this vintage. 50% new oak.

The 2000 Château Haut-Bailly is a clear step up over the 1998 and 1999, offering medium to full-bodied richness as well as wonderful purity in its darker currants, tobacco, chocolate, and graphite-like aromas and flavors. It’s concentrated and powerful, yet most of the baby fat has fallen away, and this is a classic Haut-Bailly (despite being a more Merlot-shifted blend) that has ripe, polished tannins, a seamless mouthfeel, and a great finish.

Still very youthful but starting to show its wonderful depth, structure and complexity. It’s full-bodied with silky tannins and a pretty fruit character that goes from currants to sweet earth. A wine to enjoy now and in the future.

For the vintage, this is an austere style of wine, emphasising tannins over fruit. The fruit is certainly rich, and the tannins are dusty rather than dry, but it is a wine which is developing more slowly, suggesting it is also a wine for long-term aging.

Tasted at Berry Brother & Rudd’s vertical. The millennial Haut-Bailly is a little bashful on the nose at first with light brambly red fruits, hints of cranberry and pomegranate mixed with dried herbs such as sage and thyme. It is well defined, although it does not possess the vigour one might have expected. The palate is medium-bodied with a powdery texture on the entry, very agreeable weight in the mouth with the tannins, perhaps just a little astringent, defining the masculine finish with a touch of sour cherry on the aftertaste.

It has been a little while since I last tasted the 2000 Haut Bailly. Now at 17 years of age it does not quite deliver the authority and the pedigree of the 2005 or 2010, moving into secondary notes with cedar wood, smoke and a touch of undergrowth, though it has lost a little cohesion. The palate is medium-bodied with a very well balanced opening. Hints of clove and black pepper infuse the black fruit, and it exerts a gentle grip in the mouth with quite a persistent finish. You can broach this now although it should continue to drink well for another 15-20 years. Tasted March 2017. - Neal Martin

The 2000 Haut-Bailly has a well defined bouquet with red berry fruit, earthy tones, touches of melted tar and leather. This seems fully mature but still offers plenty of vigour. The palate has surprising acidity and quite sharp on the entry. Fresh but unapologetically, it is a little rustic with a ferrous, slightly dry finish. This is a fine, mature Haut-Bailly that just seems a touch more developed than I anticipated. Tasted at the Haut-Bailly vertical at the château. -- Neal Martin