I posted this thread a while back and got some great responses:
I picked a bottle of '01 Haut Brion on the board’s recommendations and I’m popping the cork tonight. Menu- dry aged porterhouse steak.
For those of you knowledgeable about this wine, how would you recommend serving this? PnP or decant (how long)?
Thanks! I usually don’t stress too much about these details, but this is by far the fanciest wine I’ve opened for myself.
Fingers crossed!!! TN to follow!
Oh cool, I was part of the chorus for this wine in your prior thread. Love the 2001 vintage generally, but this Haut Brion was beautiful when I had it last year. I decanted it one hour. I honestly think decanting is a bit of a guessing game. I prefer to “under-decant” just in case.
Let us know how it shows!
Side note, earlier I on the WOTY thread, I put the 2001 Trotanoy as one of my five date reds of the year.
Had this wine in late 2021. I double decanted about two hours before heading out to dinner. It was good out of the gate, and just kept improving throughout the evening. Agree with the suggestion to err on the side of under-decanting and then following through the evening. Enjoy!
If the wine is in good condition with provenance, 1 hour- 90 minutes and it should evolve in the glass. Do not over-decant as that can hurt the wine’s aromatics. It is a very good wine. Enjoy!!!
We had this last thanksgiving; I decanted an hour and we followed it over 3-4 hours. Was great!
TN- My first Haut Brion. In fact, other than a very old OTH Latour, my first 1st Growth. Decanted 1 hr, enjoyed over 4 hrs, half the bottle refrigerated and consumed on day 2.
Gently aromatic, perfumed even, in way that I didn’t expect. You can smell that there is some age on this wine; leather, pipe tobacco, damp earth, black truffles, balanced with black cherries and plums. Medium bodied with fine gentle tannins.
Where the nose led with tertiary aromas, with the fruits in the background, the order is flipped in the mouth. Super smooth ripe cherries and blackberries, lead the way. Then come cedar wood, graphite, tobacco, wild mushrooms. The flavors are classic Bordeaux but the mouthfeel is smooth and gentle like a very nice aged red Burgundy; it’s a wonderful experience. Finish is long and very complex.
This is not a loud wine, it’s quiet and surprisingly subtle. For a wine so famous, well regarded, and expensive (!), I guess I expected something a bit more in-your-face. This is not that at all, which I like it all the better for. Reminds me of the first time I had a LdH Gran Reserva; surprisingly light and subtle, which is my preference.
This is not a 100 year wine, like I’ve heard some of the top Bordeaux can be. It’s already showing its age. It was still very good on day 2, but not definitively better. To my palate, it’s in the perfect place.
I’ll go on a date with you! 
It attracts all the honies!