La Clarté de Haut-Brion

2024 was unquestionably cooler than previous years, but its wet and distinctly mild winter was responsible for budbreak coming almost two weeks early, as of mid-March. In the months that followed, wet weather settled for the duration, with heavy rainfall and this caused a slowdown in the vine’s growth. From the start of spring, early pressure of fungal diseases emerged and the teams were on the ball to keep a close watch and take action in the vineyard when necessary. Flowering came late and for the whites it was consistent, whereas the reds showed some occurrence of shatter (flower abortion) due to the weather. In July, thanks to excellent weather conditions, the vine flourished and the teams assisted with painstaking green work, protecting the grape bunches by cutting back vegetal growth and by precise leaf-thinning, allowing air to circulate around the bunches and restrict any dampness. 2024 was marked by a challenging season, but accompanied by great accuracy and our dedicated teams’ perseverance, the vine produced a crop from which the first juices allow us to perceive wines full of promise.  

Although the growth season was undeniably less abundant than the bountiful year 2023, the terroir, once again, played a decisive role: its earliness rapidly brought the grapes to the degrees of alcohol we wished for, enabling us to begin the harvest in the first days of September for the whites, with good, healthy grapes. A welcome combination of relatively warm days and cool nights gave expressive Sauvignons and Sémillons with fine aromas. After pressing, the juices were delicate, well-balanced and even charming.  In September, a North-Eastern wind swept in for six days, dried up the vineyard and consequently protected its healthiness, while bringing additional concentration to the Merlots and Cabernets. The harvest of reds began afterwards; it was thorough and extremely precise, thanks to sorting done within the vineyard, as well as on arrival at the vat house, so as to keep only berries that were full of colour, ideally ripe and perfectly healthy. The grapes rewarded us well with aromatic, fruity juices that foretold magnificent wines, proving once again that nature and skill combined produce miracles.