Deep dark ruby garnet, violet reflections, delicate edge brightening. Ripe dark berry fruit, a hint of plums, floral touch, pleasant herbal spice, some nougat and orange zest. Complex, yet lively, ripe cherries and cranberries, fine, ripe tannins, literally opens up in the mouth, delicate extract sweetness, lingers for minutes, already very convincing in its youth, cassis and ripe cherries on the finish, delicate and multi-faceted, great future potential.

(99-100 points) The precision is so seductive and intellectual, with aromas of fresh flowers, iron, graphite, cedar, blood oranges and black fruit. It's medium-bodied with a compact palate of intense tannins that melt into the wine. Rather weightless in nature. It kicks in at the end with incredible intensity and focus. 13% alcohol. 65% whole cluster. 54% cabernet franc, 29% cabernet sauvignon and 17% merlot, mostly co-fermented.

(98-100 points) Almost opaque in color, it takes no effort to dig into the floral display. From there you encounter black cherries, licorice, spice box, menthol, cigar wrappers, blackberries and crushed rocks in the aromas. The palate is what steals the show with its vivid display of black, with red fruits, elegant, silky textures, and most importantly, purity of fruit. The velvety finish spreads all over your palate with touches of sea-salt, cocoa, Indian spices and lingering, dark fruits. Clearly, this is in competition with the best vintages the estate has ever produced. The ability to manage the potential of hydric stress, due to their terroir is a large part of what helped make 2025 such a success. The wine was made using 65% whole bunch clusters, blending 54% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 17% Merlot. It is interesting to note this is the highest percentage of Cabernet ever included in the blend. I think it really works here. 13% ABV, pH 3.59. The wine is aging in a combination of 70% new, French oak, 19% foudres, and 11% amphora. Picking took place September 7- September 19. Drink from 2029-2065. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2025%20brion

(96-98+ points) (Pessac-Léognan; 54% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot; a final yield of 38 hl/ha; pH 3.59; 13% ABV; 65% whole-bunch fermentation). The highest Cabernet proportion here ever. Nutty and salty again. Rich, plump, plush but oh so refined. Aerial and ethereal with so much vertical lift. Very floral too from the Cabernet – iris, lily of the valley, a little peony, even a touch of violet. A little blood orange, as ever here. Graphite first, cedar second. Ample on the attack but the immediate work of the tannins and the acidity pulls this back towards the spine. It doesn't entirely succeed and the effect is that the external parameters of the wine undulate over the palate, producing a delightful rippling effect. Crystalline, impressively so given the amplitude and depth of the wine. The tannins that shape the finish are particularly powdery, with the vines searching for water from the limestone subsoil here and hence bringing more of that chalky, tannic signature to the wine. A more intellectual Carmes. The Cabernet signature is gorgeous, reminding me aromatically of Jean Faure, and texturally of Angélus's Bouchet. 96-98+

(96-98 points) Deeper-hued than the C des Carmes cuvée, with a gorgeous perfume of red, blue, and black fruits intermixed with graphite, leafy herbs, iris, and subtle floral, minty, and almost peppery nuances, the 2025 Château Carmes Haut-Brion is based on 54% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Merlot, vinified with 65% whole clusters. On the palate, it's wonderfully textured and medium to full-bodied, with a round, layered, expansive mouthfeel and ultra-fine tannins. I love its overall balance, it has no hard edges, and while there's plenty of tannins here (IPT 82), they're perfectly integrated and polished. It checks in at 13% alcohol with a pH of 3.59, and this is just loaded with charm and character.

(95-98 points) The 2025 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a blend of 54% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot, one of the highest proportions of Cabernet Franc at the estate and comparable to 2016. It was vinified with 65% whole clusters and matured in 70% new oak. It reveals a complex, harmonious bouquet of pomegranate, iris and peony, intertwined with cassis, mulberries and dark berries. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and structured, it’s deep and layered, its concentrated core of fruit framed by velvety structuring tannins, concluding with a long, mineral-inflected finish. Combining tension with an ethereal profile, it delivers remarkable clarity, freshness and elegance. While slightly more overtly structured at this stage than the prodigious 2022, it remains impeccably balanced.

(96-98 points) Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2025 Les Carmes Haut-Brion needs a little patient swirling to bring out notes of juicy blueberries, black raspberries, and black cherries, followed by hints of fragrant soil, lilacs, and tar, plus a waft of lavender. The medium-bodied palate is electric with energetic blue, black, and red berry layers, framed by firm yet very fine-grained, silt-like tannins and a crisp line, finishing very long with loads of floral and mineral sparks.

(96-98 points) The 2025 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a huge, powerful wine that is going to need many years to come into its own. Dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, incense, melted road tar and licorice make a bold entrance. Fertility in the Merlots was low. As a result, the 2025 has the highest amount of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon ever, 83% in total as opposed to the more typical 70% or so. Whole clusters, always a part of the approach here, are 65%. Time on skins was 45 days at 27C (80.6°F) compared to the 35 days at 30C (86°F) that is more typical. Readers will find an especially deep, potent Carmes, a wine that will need the better part of a decade to shed some of its considerable baby fat. It's a telling example of the vintage, with 1% less alcohol than in most recent years. Today the 2025 is a mere infant. It's another exceptional wine from Technical Director Guillaume Pouthier and his team. - Antonio Galloni

Gorgeously fragrant on the nose with so many perfumed scents – violets, iris, peonies, cinnamon, exotic spices, black chocolate, something slightly sweet and aromatic with blackcurrant and dark bramble berries. Succulent and juicy with a powdery element to the tannins that fills the mouth straight away. I love the integration of the acidity – this has brightness but is also quite calm and charming, softer than expected. Sleek, sophisticated, full of complexity and nuance yet with real depth, intensity, concentration and integrity. Very true to place and to Guillaume Pouthier’s style. Succulent and floral Cabernets, aromatic all the way through, super long, graceful and full of width and flavour while staying clean. Ripe with tannins that fill the mouth – fleshy, grippy but wide and lifted – giving a gorgeous texture. A little citrus tang to the acidity but overall full of life and focus. Brilliant. 3.59pH. A yield of 38hl/ha overall (29hl/ha Merlot, 45hl/ha Cabernet Sauvignon). 65% whole bunch fermentation.

(94-97+ points) Deep and interesting, inky nose of jammy fruit, cherries, violets and dairy products. Very well composed, round, subtle taste. A bit lighter for Carmes than previous vintages, but very subtle, fragrant and fresh. This will be drinkable earlier than normal and is a very fine, fresh and semingly elegant Carmes.

(95-97 points) The colour in the glass is a vibrant black tulip hue, and the aromatics are dominated by the Cabernet as you might expect, with violets, currants, blackcurrant and griottes, all very Franc-ish. The palate is gorgeous, supple and textural, the palate filled out with seams of violets, blackcurrants and crushed rocks, with a tense backbone of fresh tannin. It maintains a supple and velvety substance through to a defined finish, with a salted mineral touch and a flourish of ripe grip which fades slowly in the length. This is a super Les Carmes, distinctive and filled with personality and future potential. The blend is 54% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon (the highest percentage of the Cabernets combined ever) and 17% Merlot, with 65% whole-bunch vinification (reflecting the ripeness of the stems), with no second wine. The yield here was 38 hl/ha. The alcohol is reported to be 13%, even though the potential at harvest was closer to 14.2%, which the team here put down to whole-bunch vinification and yeast selection – I certainly buy the first of those two explanations. 95-97/100

I was a little nervous to be honest about Carmes Haut-Brion, worried that this would be too sliced-through with steel acidity this year with the high Cabernet Franc, but I was worrying unnecessarily. It's totally beautiful, sleek, grilled campfire, a ton of momentum and there is a spherical feel through the mid palate, expanding and deepening the fruit flavours. High floral as you would expect, a crush of peony, iris, violet right on the first nose, chalky and slate edge to the tannins, full of energy, 14%abv at picking then whole cluster brought it down to 13%, 3.6ph, 65% whole bunch during fermentation. 38hl/h yield (compared to 24hl/ha yield last year after selection), 70% new oak. 3.59 pH. Harvest September 7 to 19, this is highest levels of Cabernet Franc to date.