The 2020 La Mission Haut-Brion is a brilliant effort that exhibits a level of balance and integration that are impressive in such a powerful young Bordeaux. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries and plums mingled with burning embers, pencil shavings, violets and smoked black tea, it's full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a layered, elegantly muscular profile, its brooding core of fruit framed by a generous endowment of powdery tannin that tempers the ripeness of the vintage. Checking in at 14.7% alcohol, it's nonetheless more classically styled than the more flamboyant 2019 vintage or even the slowly maturing 2010 which I re-tasted alongside for context.
The 2019 La Mission Haut-Brion unwinds in the glass with aromas of inky berry fruit, wild plums and cherries mingled with notions of warm spices, burning embers and creamy new oak. Full-bodied, deep and layered, it's rich and concentrated, with a deep core of fruit, bright acids and fine, powdery tannins. Powerful and tightly wound, this is less sumptuous and demonstrative out of the gates than its sibling Haut-Brion, but I suspect it possesses even greater potential.
The 2018 La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 53.5% Merlot, 42.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3.6% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it emerges from the glass with a first wave of stewed black and red plums, mulberries and black raspberries scents, followed by pronounced notions of warm cassis, clove oil, violets and chocolate box, with hints of cast-iron pan, pencil lead and forest floor coming through after a few minutes. The medium to full-bodied palate shimmers with energy, delivering layers of red and black fruits with earthy and mineral sparks and a texture so satiny you need to remember to look for it, finishing with amazing vibrancy. This is so wonderfully evocative and singular, and yet it feels like its holding something back. It makes for an impressive glass right now, but give it a good 5 years in bottle to allow further nuances to emerge and expect it to seriously reward those who can wait a good 12-15 years, when it should really hit its stride.
Composed of 56% Merlot, 4.4% Cabernet Franc and 39.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, the deep garnet-purple colored 2017 La Mission Haut-Brion is a little reticent on the nose to begin, slowly unfurling to reveal notes of crushed blackcurrants, Black Forest cake and Morello cherries with suggestions of cigar box, pencil shavings, charcoal and fertile loam. Medium-bodied, the palate has fantastic intensity with loads of mineral layers and a rock-solid line of firm, grainy tannins, finishing very long and with great energy.
The 2016 La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple in color, it is just a little muted to begin, soon unfurling to reveal slowly growing scents of crushed blackcurrants, black cherries, dark chocolate and candied violets with nuances of crushed rocks, tobacco leaf, forest floor and fragrant earth plus a hint of bergamot. Medium-bodied and exquisitely elegant, the palate offers perfectly ripe, fine-grained tannins and tons of freshness with layer upon layer of perfumed fruit and a very long, ferrous-laced finish.
The deep garnet-purple colored 2015 La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 58% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon. Youthfully mute with bright, youthful red currants, black raspberries, cassis and freshly crushed blackberries notions, it slowly unfurls to reveal an earthy/minerally undercurrent of damp soil, charcoal, iron ore and truffles plus a waft of violets.
Medium to full-bodied, decadently fruited and yet wonderfully elegant with very ripe, very silky tannins, freshness that sits well in the background and an almost electric intensity of vibrant red and black fruit flavours, it finishes long and minerally. Just. Beautiful.
La Mission Haut Brion is a prestigious wine producer located in the Pessac-Léognan appellation of Bordeaux, France. With a rich history dating back to the 16th century, the estate has been producing some of the world's finest wines for centuries. The red wines are made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc grapes grown on gravelly soil. The grapes are hand-harvested and carefully sorted before being fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and aged in oak barrels for up to 22 months.
The style of La Mission Haut Brion wines is characterized by their elegance, complexity, and balance. They are known for their intense aromas of black fruit, tobacco, and cedar, as well as their firm tannins and long finish. These wines are often described as being more approachable in their youth than their sister estate, Chateau Haut Brion, but still have the potential to age for decades.
The 2012 La Mission Haut-Brion showed brilliantly. It has an intense, floral bouquet with rose petals and strawberry preserve, hints of sous-bois and tobacco gently unfolding in the glass, gaining more earthiness as it aerates in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, broad and spicy with hints of bell pepper suggesting high quality Cabernet Franc. It fans out gloriously with a sustained tertiary finish that completes what is a wondrous La Mission Haut-Brion from Jean-Philippe Delmas and his team.
Deep garnet colored, the 2010 La Mission Haut-Brion has a commanding, profound nose of baked blackberries, boysenberries and warm cassis plus suggestions of candied violets, red roses, chocolate box, cedar chest and smoked meats with a waft of iron ore. Full-bodied, powerful and hedonic, the palate bursts with expressive black fruits and floral sparks, framed by exquisitely ripe, grainy tannins and beautiful freshness, finishing with epic length. A real head-turner, this beauty is already very impressive, but for that full WOW experience I would give it another 3-5 years in bottle to blossom.
La Mission Haut Brion is a prestigious wine producer located in the Pessac-Léognan appellation of Bordeaux, France. With a rich history dating back to the 16th century, the estate has been producing some of the world's finest wines for centuries. The red wines are made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc grapes grown on gravelly soil. The grapes are hand-harvested and carefully sorted before being fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and aged in oak barrels for up to 22 months.
The style of La Mission Haut Brion wines is characterized by their elegance, complexity, and balance. They are known for their intense aromas of black fruit, tobacco, and cedar, as well as their firm tannins and long finish. These wines are often described as being more approachable in their youth than their sister estate, Chateau Haut Brion, but still have the potential to age for decades.
Like a lot of wines in this underrated vintage, the 2008 La Mission was one of the great bargains of recent vintages. Its healthy blue/purple color is followed by aromas of blueberries, black raspberries, licorice, truffles, underbrush and forest floor. The scorched earthy/smoky character of this estate’s terroir has not yet emerged. Medium to full-bodied and concentrated with good acidity, freshness and delineation, this is a big wine for the vintage, but also very classic in its balance of tannin, acidity and extract. It will benefit from another 5-7 years of cellaring and should keep for three decades.
The 2006 La Mission Haut-Brion is showing very well at age 15, and even though it's still five or six years away from the beginning of its plateau of maturity, it is already quite expressive, wafting from the glass with aromas of blackberries and blackcurrants mingled with notions of smoke, cigar wrapper, black truffle and loamy soil. Full-bodied, fleshy and muscular, with a richly layered core of fruit framed by an abundance of ripe, powdery tannin.
The 2005 La Mission Haut-Brion is pure perfection. It has an absolutely extraordinary nose of sweet blackberries, cassis and spring flowers with some underlying minerality, a full-bodied mouthfeel, gorgeously velvety tannins (which is unusual in this vintage) and a long, textured, multi-layered finish that must last 50+ seconds. This is a fabulous wine and a great effort from this hallowed terroir. Drink this modern-day legend over the next 30+ years.
While La Mission Haut-Brion’s 2004 is not one of this estate’s top successes, it is an outstanding wine, no doubt because of this extraordinary terroir. Deep ruby/purple with notes of lead pencil shavings intermixed with black cherries, cassis, and a hint of scorched earth, medium body, sweet tannin, and a good, but uninspiring finish, this attractive, mid-weight La Mission should age nicely for 15 or more years.
The top wines of this vintage tend to be from St.-Emilion’s limestone hillsides and the corridor between St.-Julien and St.-Estephe, but the 2003 La Mission-Haut-Brion is a very successful effort from the south. Roasted herb, scorched earth, sweet black currant and tar-like aromas jump from the glass of this evolved, mature effort. While copious tannins are still present, the acid is low and the wine is loosely structured, complex, seductive, fleshy and full. It seems to be aging quickly, so owners are well-advised to check a bottle or two as it appears to be close to full maturity. The 2003 is unlikely to last as long as more classic vintages.
La Mission Haut Brion is a prestigious wine producer located in the Pessac-Léognan appellation of Bordeaux, France. With a rich history dating back to the 16th century, the estate has been producing some of the world's finest wines for centuries. The red wines are made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc grapes grown on gravelly soil. The grapes are hand-harvested and carefully sorted before being fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and aged in oak barrels for up to 22 months.
The style of La Mission Haut Brion wines is characterized by their elegance, complexity, and balance. They are known for their intense aromas of black fruit, tobacco, and cedar, as well as their firm tannins and long finish. These wines are often described as being more approachable in their youth than their sister estate, Chateau Haut Brion, but still have the potential to age for decades.
This vintage again demonstrates what an extraordinary terroir La Mission-Haut-Brion possesses.
It was not an easy year, with rain, flowering issues and uncooperative weather in the critical months of August and September, but the vineyard’s superb drainage and La Mission’s ability to produce fascinating aromatics even in difficult vintages triumphs again. Classic Graves aromas of charcoal, scorched earth, red and black fruits, truffles, graphite and melted tar emerge from this dark garnet/plum-colored 1994. In the mouth, there is some angularity and rustic tannins remaining, but they are not out of balance. With medium to full body as well as more depth than many of its peers, the wine appears to be close to full maturity.
However, with this level of acidity and tannin, it is not likely to fall apart any time soon.
Both La Mission-Haut-Brion and Haut-Brion hit home runs in this vintage, which did not produce as many profound wines as the Bordeaux publicity machine suggested. 1989, the 200th anniversary of the French revolution, was an incredibly hot year (surpassed only by 1990 and 2003).
Even from barrel the seamless 1989 La Mission revealed a special elixir aspect, tasting like it had been designed by Chanel. It still possesses a blue/purple color with only a hint of garnet creeping in, and the explosive aromatics offer up notes of licorice, creme de cassis, blueberry liqueur, smoky barbecue meats, truffles and graphite. If that’s not enough to get one salivating, the palate has never disappointed either. Full-bodied with extraordinary opulence as well as sweet, well-integrated, velvety tannins, this fresh, lively, blockbuster La Mission appears to be one of those rare wines that never goes through a closed, unfriendly stage. It has been a compelling, multidimensional effort from barrel, in its infancy, and as it heads into late adolescence. A remarkable tour de force in winemaking, it is one of the all-time profound La Mission-Haut-Brions.
One of the great wines of the vintage, and the last produced under the ownership of the Woltner family, the 1982 La Mission Haut-Brion remains remarkably youthful, exhibiting a saturated ruby-black hue. Unfurling in the glass with rich aromas of black fruits, cigar smoke, loamy soil, black truffle, peat and pencil shavings, it's full-bodied, broad and concentrated, with a deep core of fruit, ripe tannins and a long, expansive finish. Over the last decade, the wine has become increasingly seamless and elegant, without losing any of its vitality, and it is now clear, if it were ever in doubt, that this wine can stand alongside vintages such as 1961 and 1955 as one of the great La Mission Haut-Brions of the 20th century. Readers should note that the La Tour Haut-Brion of the same vintage performs at a very similar level of quality.
The nose actually has more intensity and freshness than the bottle tasted at The Arches on a couple of occasions. A “smudged” nose with touches of boot polish and earth. The palate does not quite have the vitality of the ’62, a hint of sour cherry on the entry but a hollow middle with a simple cedar-tinged finish. Past its best.
