Harvest 2026: Sweat, Laughter and the Gerbaude in Ht-Brion

The slider images, from left to right, speak of the toil and the spirit of these weeks.

There are vines that refused to yield to the city. Those of Châteaux Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, straddling Talence and Pessac, stand among the rare splendors of terroir that continue to live, grow and give, at the very heart of an urban landscape.

A stone’s throw from home, I set out each day, well before sunrise, down the rows to join one of the harvest teams, already seasoned in the art of the right gesture.

For over a month, working sometimes eight hours a day, under an early heat that arrived with the opening of the season on August 10th, a crew of mixed ages, nationalities and cultures worked with ardor. Between camaraderie and bursts of laughter, they remained faithful to the demands of yield, ever mindful of the urgency dictated by the sky.

Our team leader, attentive and flawlessly organized alongside her technicians and pickers, all in good spirits, knew how to arrange restorative breaks, so that everyone stayed strong and precise to the very end of the day.

This year, the harvest became a work of goldsmithing: teams, rows, sectors, near-mathematical divisions, close readings of the weather, and novel picking methods. Everything served this never-ending quest for finesse.

A rainless summer left the berries smaller and the yield scarce. But in both white and red, these small grapes concentrated a dense, complex aromatic matter, promising blends of high lineage for the first grands crus.

Then came September 25th, and the long-awaited ceremony: the Gerbaude, where the harvest celebration weds gastronomy and the tasting of the great wines of the Clarence Dillon estate.

Under the wines of Château Haut-Brion and La Mission, paired with dishes by caterer MyTerroir and carried by music from Wine4Melomanes, chosen from the same vintage, this rare parenthesis opened, where every social condition meets around a single table.

At lunch, it was a great red that held my full attention: Le Clarence de Haut-Brion 2015.

The nose is active from the moment the bottle opens, swirling once in the glass with notes of toast, tobacco, smoked black fruit. On the palate, freshness unfolds, fluid and expansive, while a tannic tension, traced with a sure hand, draws out its vivacity with precision. Served without decanting, it nonetheless asserted its sovereign presence at the tasting.

Blend: 57% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc

For W4M‘s musical echo of the wine, I chose the « cartridge-sharp » contemporary vocal composition « Liquid Spirit, » released in 2015 by American maestro Gregory Porter, remixed by Berlin electro artist Claptone, to underscore the nectar’s ardor on the palate — its complex, sparkling, swirling, savory modernity.

W4M-Sept.2026-F.Beneix