CHÂTEAU LA MISSION HAUT BRION

2016 Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan

Grapes Merlot, Cab Sauv
Colour Red
Origin France, Bordeaux
Village Pessac-Léognan
Classification Cru Classé
ABV 14%

57.5% Merlot, 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Blue-edged colour, deep glossy weight, but tannins are near the surface, fine and grippy. Seems to be all there while lacking a bit of flow and poetry - but then goes on and on on the finish. Can't quite decide about this, but you'd have to assume it will get there. Drinking range: 2030 - 2050 Rating: 93-95 L&S (Apr 2017)


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The 2016 La Mission Haut-Brion checks in as a Merlot-heavy blend, 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. About as pure and seamless (yet sexy) as they come in the vintage, it offers awesome notes of dried flowers, sweet currants, cedarwood, forest floor, and exotic spices. With a flawless texture, medium to full body, and ultra-fine tannins, this beauty builds incrementally on the palate with terrific mid-palate depth and a stunning finish. It’s sexier and more charming compared to the more backward Haut Brion, yet I suspect it will age just as long. Drinking range: 2023 - 2063 Rating: 98 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Feb 2019)

The 2016 La Mission Haut Brion is a blend of 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon picked between 19 September and 14 October, one of the longest ever. "We had to be patient and wait for each plot," Jean-Philippe Delmas told me. "It took longer than usual." As is customary, I allowed my sample, and likewise all the wines poured at this tasting, around 40-45 minutes to open since they always transform in the glass. It has a clean and precise, quite understated bouquet with fine mineralité, cold stone aromas infusing the black fruit. This has incredible precision, perhaps even more pixelated than the "gaff over the road" Haut-Brion. The palate is medium-bodied with supple and lithe tannin. I appreciate the line of acidity here, the smoothness and harmony that takes your breath away. Every atom is infused with life-affirming freshness. It is a wine bridled with incredible focus and delineation. I thought that the 2015 La Mission Haut-Brion flirted with perfection. The 2016 has that extra edge, a "je ne sais quoi" that leaves you reaching for the thesaurus looking for superlatives. Drinking range: 2026 - 2067 Rating: 98-100 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2017)

Glowing deep crimson. Very intense and ripe. Snazzy and spicy. Polished and racy. Very firm and lots of ripe tannins – very much à La Mission. Super-sophisticated. Inky and fresh and so ripe and confident. A dry style but great. Racy but tannic. Drinking range: 2027 - 2050 Rating: 18.5++ Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2017)

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