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
92 Decanter Vibrant nose of fresh dark berry fruit with touches of dark chocolate dust. Enjoyable succulence and sweetness on the palate, with a harmonious freshness. Drinking Window: 2022 - 2034
91 Jeb Dunnuck The second wine of Haut-Batailley, the 2017 Chateau Haut-Batailley Verso is a blend of 60/40 Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot aged in used barrels. It has lots of juicy cherry and cassis notes as well as lots of tobacco and cedary herbs, medium body, juicy acidity, light tannins, and a clean, classy finish. It's a classy second wine I'd be happy to drink any time over the coming 10-12 years. Maturity: 2020 - 2032
90 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate The new second wine of Haut Batailley, the 2017 Verso is medium to deep garnet-purple in color and comes rolling out of the glass with ready-for-business notes of warm black cherries, kirsch and mulberries plus wafts of cassis and baking spices. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers bags of juicy black fruit with a soft texture and spicy finish.
