Freddy R. Troya

9.1

Château Haut-Batailley 2023 – Pauillac, Grand Cru Classé, BDX, France 🇫🇷

Overview
A beautifully structured and layered Pauillac delivering serious grip, depth of red fruit, and refined finesse, driven by a 60% Cabernet Sauvignon-led blend with 37% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot support. The wine shows clear complexity and architectural balance, combining power and polish without heaviness, positioning itself as a confident mid-pack contender capable of punching above its weight.

Aromas & Flavors
Red currant, cassis, wild raspberry, graphite, cedar shavings, crushed gravel, subtle tobacco leaf, cocoa dust and fresh spice.

Mouthfeel
Medium-plus body with firm, finely grained tannins, excellent mid-palate density, vibrant yet integrated acidity, precise structural tension, and a long, focused finish that grips beautifully without roughness.

Food Pairings
Grilled ribeye, lamb rack, beef bourguignon, duck breast, rosemary potatoes, aged hard cheeses.

Verdict
A poised and confident Pauillac showing layered complexity, structural clarity, and real finesse. Not a brute-force heavyweight, but a beautifully driven, technically precise wine with strong aging potential and excellent balance.

🍷 Personal Pick
This feels like a wine that thrives on precision rather than raw horsepower, beautifully controlled grip, layered red fruit, and elegant finesse throughout. The kind of bottle that rewards attention and quietly impresses from start to finish. — 8 days ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.0

2019 vintage. An estate owned by the Cazes family (Lynch Bages, Haut Batailley). A blend of Merlot (50%), Cabernet Sauvignon (40%), Cabernet Franc (7%) and Petit Verdot (3%). Less flashy compared to the Capbern 2019 tasted yesterday, give it some time to open up. Even with the high Merlot percentage, it has more of a dark Cabernet Sauvignon personality with black fruit and a serious, slightly severe tannic backbone. Abv. 14,5 %. — 4 years ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.0

2016 vintage. Domaine de l'Ostal is owned by famous Bordeaux winemaker Jean-Michel Cazes (Pauillac Cru Classé Château Lynch-Bages and more recently Haut-Batailley). We can reasonably expect him to not put his name on a bad wine, and this Estobal (the second wine of the estate, the top wine being labeled Domaine de l'Ostal Grand Vin) surely delivers. Dark red. Intense perfume of blackberry jam, rosemary and dried flowers. Mouthfilling layered jammy fruit, with good acidity, smooth tannin and good spicy length. — 5 years ago

A. R.

9.2

Beautiful classic left bank. Fairly open and with some development. Lovely. — 7 days ago

Hannah corbett

9.5

Charlie’s — 9 months ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.0

2016 vintage. Jean-Michel Cazes (owner of famous Pauillac Cru Classé Lynch-Bages and more recently Haut-Batailley) bought this Minervois estate in 2002. This is the "grand vin", a blend of 70% Syrah, 15% Carignan, 20% Grenache and 5% Mourvèdre. A very spicy concentrated wine that is more about power than finesse. The colour is still deep dark red with hardly any sign of evolution. Intense spicy nose. Bold and powerful with black fruit hidden in spices. Long peppery finish. Take no prisoners. Abv. 14,5%. — 3 years ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.0

This estate was bought in 1988 buy Jean-Michel Cazes (Lynch Bages and more recently Haut-Batailley) and sold in 2017 to the Balland family (Baret). 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc. Aged in used Lynch Bages barrels. This 2014 is in a very good place now, but should age well for a few more years. Fresh and elegant, with typical Graves spiciness. Not the most complex but a very solid and seductive effort for the vintage. — 5 years ago

Alan Johnston

9.4

3.4. Lovely Pauillac Bordeaux, smooth with tasty fruits snd well-balanced minerals. On sale for $29.99. — 8 months ago

Jakub Kalinowski

9.1

Slightly fresher & more exotic be the Batailley.
Black fruit galore, cedar wood, minty whiffs, exotic spice.
Soft & quite mellow on the palate. Yet fresh. The tannins are so finely grained & juicy - dusty, sandy fine. Poised, so elegant, classic Bordeaux. Great mid palate, nice length & depth. This is probably at a perfect drinking window right now. So delightful. — 2 years ago

Stefan Dolhain

8.9

2016 vintage. 65% Sauvignon blanc with 35% Sémillon. At the time this estate was owned by Jean-Michel Cazes (Lynch Bages and more recently Haut-Batailley), but the current owners are the Groupe Ballande (Bordeaux négociants who also own Prieuré Lichine and Baret). Exotic fruit and a hint of flowers. Round and ripe with enough acidity in this warm vintage. Good length with impressions of vanilla. Good value. — 5 years ago