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Château Haut L’Abeille Bordeaux Blanc Les Robins 2020

After suitably festive interludes focusing on Sherry (the East India Solera from Lustau) and Port (the 2018 LBV from Taylor’s) this week it seems only right to return to more familiar styles. So let’s dive back in with the latest instalment of my sporadic, irregular and completely random exploration of Bordeaux whites. Next in line is a wine from one of the region’s less familiar names, Château Haut L’Abeille.

Not only is the name unfamiliar, so too is the ground underfoot. To find Château Haut L’Abeille we must head over to the right bank of Bordeaux, but instead of looking east to the vineyards of Pomerol, St Emilion and Côtes de Castillon, we must instead look west, beyond even the vineyards of Fronsac. It is not a region of Bordeaux I have visited often, the best known name in the region (and the reason I can’t say I have never visited) being Château Grand Village, home to Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau, best known for their long and successful tenure of Château Lafleur. Indeed, Château Haut L’Abeille is just a short walk down the road from the Guinaudeau residence.

The property is the seat of the Chevalier family (nothing to do with Domaine de Chevalier by the way), who have been tending vineyards in Bordeaux for at least five generations, with a history dating back to 1850. It was second generation Pierre Chevalier who settled at Château Haut L’Abeille, which is today run by his great grandsons, brothers Richard and Eric Chevalier. They have also branched out with the acquisition of Château La Fleur de Viaud in Lalande-de-Pomerol, as well as Clos 126, a micro-domaine in Pomerol.

Château Haut L'Abeille Bordeaux Blanc Les Robins 2020

The Chevalier brothers tend four of the region’s archetypal varieties, Merlot and Cabernet Franc in red, Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris in white. The approach in the vines and cellars has long been sustainable, the domaine having level 3 Haute Valeur Environnementale certification, but until recently there was no higher certification than that. Their Pomerol vineyard, which they acquired in 2019, has been managed using organic methods for more than a decade though, and after making this acquisition Richard and Eric decided to switch their other vineyards, including Château Haut L’Abeille, over to organic viticulture. The vineyards were thus ‘in conversion’ when the vintage featured here, 2020, was picked.

A relatively new addition to the portfolio, the Les Robins cuvée is a blend of 50% each Sauvignon Blanc with Sauvignon Gris, the fruit picked by hand, pressed and the juice fermented in Burgundian barrels. The wine then rests in the barrel for up to nine months, with some infrequent lees stirring along the way. It was bottled in 2021.

The 2020 Les Robins from Château Haut L’Abeille opens with a ripe and enticing nose of peach, tangerine and honeydew melon, with threads of crushed chalk, freesia and white pepper. This convincing first impression is more than matched by the palate, which begins with a deliciously juicy core of fruit before turning more taut and minerally in the middle, although it never seems to lose sight of that juicy substance, which is framed by rather pithy acidity. It feels fresh and tense, slightly bitter and mouth-watering, before it settles into a finish and length washed with notes of orange peel. This is very well put together; to conjure this much bite, energy and character from such a warm vintage is a triumph, and I consider this one of the more exciting discoveries of my random Bordeaux white explorations. The alcohol on the label is 13.5%. 92/100 (8/1/24)

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