Chateau Haut-Bailly Pessac-Léognan
Bordeaux 2010
I remember when Château Haut-Bailly was purchased by Robert G. Wilmers in 1998.
I was a young sommelier newly arrived in London, and I read in the specialized press that Jean Sanders, the grandfather of Véronique Sanders, who had purchased the château in 1955, had sold it to Wilmers, who then entrusted Véronique with managing the property. Later, Véronique became the CEO of Haut-Bailly in 2000.
Although Haut-Bailly was well regarded by the late 90s and early 2000s, it was not fully expressing its potential and needed a renaissance. This purchase, combined with improvements in winemaking practices and a renewed focus on quality at the estate, is often cited as a key reason for its increased recognition and popularity.
In the early 2000s, Château Haut-Bailly underwent a complete renovation and modernization of its cellars. This project was part of a broader effort to improve the quality of their wines after the estate was purchased by Robert G. Wilmers. The cellar upgrades were made to help produce the best wines possible.
The cellar was restored around 2000, accompanied by significant changes to the vineyard. These involved green harvesting to remove underripe grapes and multiple harvesting passes to achieve optimal ripeness. Oenologist Gabriel Vialard joined the team in 2002 to further enhance the winemaking process.
At that time, I had never visited Haut-Bailly, but I was familiar with the wine, having purchased and sold numerous bottles in various restaurants where I worked in France and London. I had always promised myself to visit someday, as I liked their wine.
In 2002, after five incredible years in London, I moved to New York and was working there at www.PJWine.com with owner Peter Yi. Peter enjoyed traveling to Bordeaux and Spain every year during the "En Primeur" period (around mid-April) to taste wines and plan future purchases.
For five years, from 2002 to 2007, I planned and scheduled these trips in advance by booking visits to the châteaux and various négociants, as well as most tastings featuring the Cru Bourgeois, up to the prestigious Grands Crus Classés level (including the hotels and restaurants).
Apart from being a wine consultant (then wine director) and one of the wine buyers at his retail store and for the website, I also served as some kind of PA and chauffeur during our travels.
It was a tough job, with extended hours, six to seven days a week, but it was worth it, and I loved every minute of it. Besides tasting, buying, and selling some of the most prestigious wines in the world, who wouldn't enjoy traveling to regions where they're produced to taste them at the property with the winemakers and dining at some of the best restaurants in Bordeaux, the Basque region, and Spain?
I would always be grateful to Peter Yi, as he offered me the opportunity to do all that and so much more. Interestingly, we both had a certain character and often clashed. He, being Korean American, and I, being French, I guess he saw me as arrogant and annoying.
And yet, he appreciated the job I was doing for him and saw added value in me. And although he told me every day that he would fire me, he kept me by his side and under his wing for five years. It was more like one of those love-hate relationships between employer and employee, and it always ended with sharing some food and a glass of wine, laughing with the rest of the team at the back of the store. 😉👍🍷
In April 2003, we took our first trip together as a team to Bordeaux, and I arranged a visit to the Chateau. It was a beautiful day, and we were driving around Pessac-Leognan after visiting a few other Chateaux in the area.
******work in progress******
Cheers! Santé!
Dom
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