Château Haut-Brion holds singular status in wine history. Grapes grew here in Roman times; the Pontac family established vineyards in the 1530s; and on April 10, 1663, Samuel Pepys recorded tasting "Ho Bryen"—the first professional wine review ever documented. The sole First Growth outside the Médoc, Haut-Brion sits on deep gravel deposits reaching eight meters, capturing and releasing heat in ways that create Bordeaux's hottest meso-climate. The Clarence Dillon family has owned it since 1935. The estate pioneered stainless steel fermentation in 1961 and developed unique double-skinned temperature-controlled vats. The 2009 vintage achieved exceptional ripeness and earned near-perfect scores from multiple critics. The blend of 46% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 14% Cabernet Franc offers sensational perfume: burning embers, tobacco, wet gravel, figs. Described as potentially "the 21st century version of the 1959." Cellar for decades.