La Mission Haut Brion 2015

A notch less muscular than the Haut-Brion, exceptionally finessed and textured, satin and slate, push and pull, crushed rose petals, soy and smoked earth. Great quality, love the mandarin peel bitterness that gives lift through the finish, and the waves of floral aromatics that linger in your palate after the wine has gone. An exceptional wine with pleasure on its mind. Jean-Philippe Delmas director, 78% new oak for ageing.

Tasted blind. Mid crimson. Fresh and juicy and fragrant. Real savour and beginning, middle and end. Gloriously appetising. The first of these 250 wines I have been tempted not to spit. Very long and subtle. Drink 2025-2050

The nose seems quite light fragrant and fresh yet the palate has hidden depth a brooding mix of black cherry and cassis. Chocolate richness in the middle fleshy and ripe, sumptuous yet there is balance between richness and freshness. Sweet ripe black fruits at the back depth of flavour yet the finish is lighter brighter long and elegant.

Marking a huge contrast with the cooler, more graceful 2014 (which I prefer), this is a muscular, even monumental red: tannic, concentrated and a little pruney. It teeters on the edge of excess, but it is pulled back by its acidity. I will watch how it ages with interest. Drink: 2025-35

What this wine brings to the party is volume and power. I was completely taken by La Chapelle (the second wine), but the Grand Vin improves on this in every facet of a great wine. This is so commanding and noble that it beggars belief. The earth is the foundation to this wine and it is spellbinding and all-encompassing. A work of art and one which will live for an eternity. I can’t imagine being able to drink this wine in my lifetime it is so fantastically youthful and closed.

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 flavors, it finishes long and minerally. Just. Beautiful. Consider giving it 6-7 years in bottle before broaching and drink it over the next 30+. Drink 2024 - 2055.

The 2015 La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 58% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc that was picked between 9 September and 1 October. Throughout its barrel maturation it has clearly retained that purity of fruit with copious blackberry and blueberry scents, that cold stone/cave-like element perhaps more accentuated now that the wine is in bottle. The palate is very well balanced with firm tannin that provides a solid backbone to this La Mission. It is already a complex and intellectual wine with layers of black fruit infused with black olive tapenade, hints of seaweed and white pepper, fresh and tensile from start to finish with a persistent finish that seems to go on for over 60 seconds. As I remarked during en primeur, the 2015 will rank among the canon of great wines from this estate. I can now rubber-stamp that statement. Anticipated maturity: 2025 - 2060.

The 2015 La Mission Haut Brion is a blend of 58% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc that was picked between 9 September and 1 October. Matured in 78% new oak, it has an incredibly pure bouquet with intense blueberry, blackberry, iodine and cold stone aromas that soar from the glass. There is nothing holding back here - a La Mission with real exuberance. The palate is medium-bodied with incredible intensity in the mouth, but without any leaden weight. It is a startling La Mission Haut-Brion to behold at this early stage. It is one of those wines where as a professional critic, I had to adopt a poker face to hide the untrammeled joy this nascent wine imparts. Complete and profound, the 2015 will rank as one of the great modern-day classics from this grand estate, another to add to that long list of magical La Missions. Drink 2030-2070.

The purity in this wine is really mindblowing. So perfect. Licorice. Stone. Blackberry, blueberry. Full body. The power is amazing. But then it finishes etheral and so agile and beautiful. I am lost for words. This will rank with the best ever from here including 1975 and 1929. 58% merlot, 35% cabernet sauvignon, and cabernet franc.

Very dark and glamorous-looking. Fairly dumb nose but obviously great weight and intensity. A big brooding monster! Massive charge of tannins. Big and pretty alcoholic on the end. Not very communicative at the moment. Lots of palate-tanning tannins. After a while in the glass, a whiff of cordite emerged. Sorcery?! 15.1%Drink 2030-2050