Chateau
Laville Haut-Brion, along with La Tour Haut-Brion, became part of the La
Mission Haut-Brion family now, under the empire of the American Dillon family.
It is now commercialized as the white wine of La Mission Haut-Brion, with the
last vintage under the original name being 2008.
The
birth of the wine came through the fusion of two separate vineyards, Clos
Laville and La Mission Haut-Brion blanc. Although it is now under the same
ownership as La Mission Haut-Brion and Haut-Brion, the history of this estate actually
began in the early 17th century when it was owned by Marie de
Laville, the wealthy widow of a Bordeaux magistrate, Sir de Queyrac.
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It was
then bought and sold several times, eventually coming to Pierre-David Bouscasse
in 1825. All the wine produced up till then was red. The Bouscasse family
continued to hold on the estate till 1912, when it was acquired by a barrel
merchant named Leopold Bibonne, during which the first white grape varieties
were believed to be planted.
In 1931
a merchant called Frederic-Otto Woltner acquired Clos Laville. Woltner also
owned La Mission and La Tour Haut-Brion, effectively uniting the vineyards for the
first time. The white wine was immediately integrated into La Mission blanc,
resulting in the first vintage of Chateau Laville Terroir du Haut-Brion, which
was renamed to Chateau Laville Haut-Brion in 1934.
In 1983
the Woltner family sold it to Clarence Dillon, who also acquired La Mission
Haut-Brion, beginning the current chapter of the property.
The
vineyard was directly contiguous with La Mission Haut-Brion, a 3.5 ha plot of
gravelly clay soils on chalk sand. The vines are averaging 50 years, with 70%
Semillon, 27% Sauvignon Blanc, 3% Muscadelle.
Manually
harvested, the grapes are sorted on the table before fermented, which started
in stainless steel and completed in 50% new oak barrels, with the lees rested
for about 15 months. The wine is fined with egg white before bottling. The
grand vin is typically produced at only 500-700 cases per year but no second
wine is produced.
I have
recently tasted the 1999 vintage and below is my tasting note:
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