Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion

Complex, full-bodied and rich… Château La Mission Haut-Brion red invites the most flattering descriptions. The blend adapts according to the vintage, but Château La Mission Haut-Brion red wine always retains its unparalleled charisma.

This wine has a handsome color of deep, fresh, ruby red. The nose is not completely open due to the great structure of its tannins. The equilibrium of the wine is remarkable with mature fruit already evident. Its emerging strength, though only slightly developed, indeed insinuates the richness to come. This is a great bottle in the making. The finale is suave, soft and tannic all at the same time. It is an exceptional bottle for its density.

“A candidate for the wine of the vintage from this somewhat forgotten year, consumers should be seeking out wines from the Right Bank and Graves as 1998 was a great vintage in those appellations. La Mission’s 1998 exhibits a healthy, opaque blue/purple color with no lightening at the edge. Thirty minutes of aeration brings forth a sensational bouquet of chocolate, cedar, truffles, graphite, blackberries, cassis and incense. La Mission’s so-called scorched earth/charcoal/hot rocks characteristic has not yet appeared. Full-bodied with superb purity, a multilayered texture, sweet tannin, good acidity and a fabulously long finish, this great, young La Mission-Haut-Brion’s finest days are yet to come. (RP)” – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate