Chateau Haut-Batailley Verso (2017)

The Borie family — through François-Xavier Borie, who also runs Grand-Puy-Lacoste — has long maintained Haut-Batailley as a quietly precise Pauillac. Verso is the estate's second wine, drawing from 22 hectares of gravelly soils in Pauillac's southern sector, where the Gironde estuary moderates the climate. 

The wine displays purplish-blue hues. The nose is predominantly spicy (pepper, with a hint of scrubland), followed by notes of black fruit (blackcurrant). On the palate, its clean and frank attack is balanced with enveloping tannins.

Blend: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot