2017 Château La Mission Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
The 2017 La Mission Haut-Brion was bottled a little earlier than the Haut-Brion, 20-24 May. It has a more understated bouquet than Haut-Brion and consequently demands more coaxing, eventually revealing very pure raspberry and wild strawberry scents mixed with wet limestone and hints of wilted rose petal. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannin, very focused and refined with darker fruit compared to the nose. Traces of tar and cedar surface towards the classic finish that lingers nicely, although Haut-Brion just has a tad more persistence and depth. Superb.
Drink 2023 - 2050
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (January 2020)
A positively stunning wine, the 2017 La Mission Haut-Brion is all class. Sweet floral notes give the 2017 striking freshness, nuance and energy. Rose petal, mint, blood orange, red cherry, pomegranate and mocha are all laced together. In 2017, La Mission plays very much in the red fruit and floral end of the spectrum. Effortless, gracious and wonderfully nuanced, the 2017 simply has it all. What a wine!
Drink 2024 - 2047
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (March 2020)
51% of the overall crop. 3.86pH.
The aromatics here are incredible, and there is the most gorgeous density of black brambly fruit on display. It's graceful but intense, and utterly delicious. It doesn't have the same intensity through the palate as the wonderful 2016, but it really does stand out in the vintage as being extremely good quality. It's going to take its time to come round, so settle in for the long haul.
Drink 2026 - 2042
Jane Anson, Decanter.com (April 2018)
Tasted blind.
Deep ruby colour. Cedar, cassis and star anise. Dark, rich and brooding. Mouth-filling, rich fruit and deeply savoury spice. Powerful, smoky and rich but with all the density of fruit needed. Aristocratic, easy intensity and harmony. Good bones and great potential.
Drink 2027 - 2045
Tom Parker MW, JancisRobinson.com (October 2021)
Composed of 56% Merlot, 4.4% Cabernet Franc and 39.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, the deep garnet-purple coloured 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.
Drink 2023 - 2057
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2020)
A tight, solid red with crushed berry, sandalwood, stone and cement flavours. It’s full-bodied, yet very tight and compact with excellent depth and intensity. Closed and austere, but there’s both energy and levity to it at the same time.
Try after 2025
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (December 2020)
Checking in as a blend of 56% Merlot, 39.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Cabernet Franc brought up in 68% new French oak, the 2017 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion sports a vivid ruby colour to go with a beautifully round, textured, opulent style on the palate that's hard to find in the vintage. Classic notes of unsmoked tobacco, incense, spiced currants, and chocolate all emerge from the glass, and it's medium to full-bodied, has silky tannins, a fresh, classic, balanced mouthfeel, and a great finish.
Drink after 2020
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (February 2020)
About this WINE
Chateau la Mission Haut-Brion
Château La Mission-Haut-Brion is the greatest Graves wine after Haut-Brion and in some vintages is considered the superior wine of the two. La Mission-Haut-Brion is situated just across the road from Haut-Brion in the commune of Talence in the southern suburbs of Bordeaux. Since 1983, both properties have been under the same ownership, Domaine Clarence Dillon S.A.
La Mission-Haut-Brion's vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon 48%, Merlot 45%, Cabernet Franc 7%) lie on a large (up to 18 metres deep in places) gravel bank interspersed with clay. The wine is fermented in temperature-controlled, stainless steel vats and then matured in oak barriques (100% new) for 18 months. The wines of La Mission Haut Brion are rich, oaky and powerful and need at least 10 years of bottle ageing before they should be broached.
Pessac-Leognan
In 1986 a new communal district was created within Graves, in Bordeaux, based on the districts of Pessac and Léognan, the first of which lies within the suburbs of the city. Essentially this came about through pressure from Pessac-Léognan vignerons, who wished to disassociate themselves from growers with predominately sandy soils further south in Graves.
Pessac-Léognan has the best soils of the region, very similar to those of the Médoc, although the depth of gravel is more variable, and contains all the classed growths of the region. Some of its great names, including Ch. Haut-Brion, even sit serenely and resolutely in Bordeaux's southern urban sprawl.
The climate is milder than to the north of the city and the harvest can occur up to two weeks earlier. This gives the best wines a heady, rich and almost savoury character, laced with notes of tobacco, spice and leather. Further south, the soil is sandier with more clay, and the wines are lighter, fruity and suitable for earlier drinking.
Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Haut-Brion, Ch. la Mission Haut-Brion, Ch. Pape Clément, Ch Haut-Bailly, Domaine de Chevalier, Ch. Larrivet-Haut-Brion, Ch. Carmes Haut-Brion, Ch. La Garde, Villa Bel-Air.
Cabernet Sauvignon Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.
In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.
In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and Australia.
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Description
Composed of 56% Merlot, 4.4% Cabernet Franc and 39.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, the deep garnet-purple coloured 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.
Drink 2023 - 2057
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2020)
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