Château Haut-Brion

The 1855 Médoc, Graves and Sauternes classification includes just one Graves property, Château Haut-Brion. It is the smallest of the first growths, 48 hectares are planted with red grapes and about 3 hectares to white.
Vines were probably planted here on the outskirts of the city by the Romans, and winemaking dates back to the 1500s. American Clarence Dillon bought the property in 1935, since 2008 it is run by fourth generation Prince Robert of Luxembourg.
Jean de Pontac started the dynasty that would make the property so famous, when he married into the family, built the château and increased the size of the vineyard. In the 17th century, several generations late, Arnaud de Pontac changed the style of Bordeaux wine, creating ‘The New French Claret’ topping up barrels and using sulphur, slowing oxidation allowing wines to age. Fashionable in the Taverns of London, the biggest Bordeaux wine market at the time, his son opened the first French wine bar ‘The Pontac’s Head’ after the great fire of London and the Haut-Brion brand was launched.
Now surrounded by the suburbs of the city, this urban vineyard is one of the first to harvest due to this warm microclimate. In 1961 they were the first to use stainless steel vats – a shocking innovation at the time. The new cellars are eco-certified.
Jean-Philippe Delmas is the 3rd generation of his family to make the wines and run the property.
Previously Château Bahans Haut-Brion, since 2007 the second wine is now sold as Le Clarence de Haut-Brion, and is also bottled in the unique Haut-Brion bottle which has been used at the property since the 1950s