2017 La Parde de Haut Bailly

Very dark with black core. Dark and fine fruit if not that open at the moment. Just a little hint of oak savour. Super-fresh and quite luscious but so fresh too. Juicy in the middle. Real beauty and quite accessible. Perfect balance with a fine tannin flourish on the finish. (JH)

The 2017 La Parde Haut-Bailly was not affected by the frost since most of the parcels that were damaged went into the third wine. It has a sweet black cherry, black plum and a touch of violet, nicely defined and quite generous in terms of fruit, especially for a deuxième vin. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannin, low acidity, rounded in texture with plush black fruit laced with a pinch of sea salt towards the finish. Very fine.

The 2017 La Parde Haut-Bailly is showing beautifully today. Pliant and engaging, La Parde is a terrific second wine. The dark red cherry, plum, licorice, spice and new leather are all nicely amped up in this super-expressive, generous wine. Soft contours make La Parde quite accessible young, but there is more than enough freshness to support 20+ years of very fine drinking. The blend is 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, which is a little more Merlot than usual.