Pessac-Léognan reds 2015: Tasted in bottle

pessac reds 2015 — Smith Haut Lafitte in Pessac-Léognan.

(Image credit: smith-haut-lafitte)

Château Haut-Bailly has made one of its greatest wines from the Bordeaux 2015 vintage, says Jane Anson as part of her review of Pessac-Léognan 2015 red wines in-bottle. See more notes and ratings below.

Two years in the cellar have been good to the Bordeaux 2015 vintage as a whole.

It has emerged as a particularly promising year on the Right Bank and, although more patchy on the other side of the Gironde Estuary in Médoc and across the Garonne river to the south, there are still top wines from those areas, too.

When Jane Anson tasted Pessac-Léognan 2015 wines during en primeur week in 2017, she praised them for ‘a soft, fresh and incredibly luscious elegance to the tannins in the best wines‘.

Things are progressing well at several estates, she noted in her review of the 2015 vintage now that the wines have been bottled.

‘This is a Smith Haut Lafitte that has improved during barrel ageing, and will deepen even further in bottle,’ said Jane Anson in her note on the château’s 2015, red grand vin.

She also re-iterated her view that Haut-Bailly 2015 ‘has got to be one of the greatest Haut-Baillys I have ever tasted’.

Below, Premium members cans see her up-to-date notes on the Pessac 2015 reds.

Introduction by Decanter editorial team.

See also: Jane Anson’s original Graves and Pessac 2015 en primeur report

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Jane Anson was Decanter’s Bordeaux correspondent until 2021 and has lived in the region since 2003. She writes a monthly wine column for Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, and is the author of Bordeaux Legends: The 1855 First Growth Wines (also published in French as Elixirs). In addition, she has contributed to the Michelin guide to the Wine Regions of France and was the Bordeaux and Southwest France author of The Wine Opus and 1000 Great Wines That Won’t Cost a Fortune. An accredited wine teacher at the Bordeaux École du Vin, Anson holds a masters in publishing from University College London, and a tasting diploma from the Bordeaux faculty of oenology.

Roederer awards 2016: International Feature Writer of the Year

Bordeaux 2015: Pessac-Léognan reds re-tasted

See also: Bordeaux 2015: How it looks in bottle

See also: Jane Anson’s original Graves and Pessac 2015 en primeur report

Château Haut-Bailly, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan, Cru Classé de Graves, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Domaine de Chevalier, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Malartic-Lagravière, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Pape Clément, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château de Fieuzal, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Carbonnieux, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Latour-Martillac, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Le Petit Haut Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Brown, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Bouscaut, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Gazin Rocquencourt, Pessac-Léognan, Cru Classé de Graves, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Couhins, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Le Pape, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Le Thil, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Clos Marsalette, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Haut-Bailly, Le Parde de Haut-Bailly, Graves, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Les Hauts de Smith, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Cantelys, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Haut-Bergey, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Lespault-Martillac, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015

Château Carbonnieux, Croix de Carbonnieux, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2015