La Mission Haut Brion 2010

Very dark crimson. Intense and voluptuous on the nose. Really out there! Like an essence of La Mission. Full and rich and lively with massive mineral influence. Sui generis. Pretty demanding and a bit warm on the end. Like licking glacé bricks (because it has more sweetness than usual). You may need knowledge of La Mission in the past to appreciate this but it is truly an amazing wine. The gravelly bit stops it being too sweet and rich. Lots of tannin still there. But such energy! 15%Drink 2024 – 2050

There is a mass of powerful fruit on the nose cassis and damsons backed by black cherry. The palate is rich deep and sweet the fruit fleshed out by dark chocolate. There is structure but the back palate is supple fleshy and showing a whiff of alcohol.

Dense black floral fruit, great depth and ripeness, great structure and elegance, a superb La Mission. Drink 2018-40.

One of the most powerful La Missions ever produced, the 2010, a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc, achieved 15% natural alcohol (even higher than the 2009's 14.7%). Nevertheless, the pH is normal which gives the wine an extraordinary precision, freshness and vibrancy despite its massive size. A blue/purple color is followed by a classic nose of blueberry liqueur, creme de cassis, spring flowers and crushed rocks. This monumental, full-bodied, incredibly rich La Mission-Haut-Brion will need a decade of cellaring and should last for 40-50 years. It is slightly fatter and creamier than its sibling rival, the 2010 Chateau Haut-Brion.

Tasted at Chateau Haut Brion. The La Mission has a far more extrovert bouquet compared to the Haut Brion, with fresh, vibrant, gregarious scents of black cherries, mulberry, cassis and vanilla with fine delineation and warmth of alcohol that packs a punch at 15.1%. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded, supple tannins. It is far more expressive than the Haut-Brion at the moment, showing ample dark berries, dark plum and a touch of cedar. This is a powerful, burly, sensual, buxom La Mission but one has to ask, are those the characteristics you expect or desire from an estate that produced so many ethereal wines over the years? Personally I prefer the more sophisticated Haut-Brion. Tasted November 2012.

Comparing the Grand Vin with La Chapelle, I must say at this premature stage the aromatics are very similar, perhaps with a little more precision on the La Mission but certainly there is not much to distinguish between them. But give this two or three minutes in the glass and begins to blossom, offering pure dark cherry, cassis and blackberry fruits, crushed stone, cola and a touch of graphite. The palate is superb and disguising the 14.7% alcohol well, the tannins strident and arching over the wine. There is a saline/spicy notes just on the finish that leaves the mouth tingling. Tasted September 2011.

The La Mission Haut-Brion, a blend of 37% Merlot, 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc, 3.57pH and knocking in at....15.1% alcohol. It has a wonderful nose with crushed stone, black plum and graphite, with an almost Pauillac-like personality. The palate is medium-bodied and quite structured on the entry, the Cabernet in the driving seat lending cedar and graphite. Linear, strict, brilliant focused with good tension on the finish, you have to give to Jean-Philippe Delmas that the alcohol is cunningly disguised, but on the other hand, how about drinking more than a glass? That remains to be seen, hence my caution. Tasted March 2011.

This is very perfumed for La Mission with dark berry, light chocolate, flowers, and minerals. Full and silky with fine tannins and a bright and tangy finish. Intense and powerful. Refined. Long

37% Merlot, 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc. 47% grand vin (compared to 50% in 2009). Very deep crimson - glowing. Scented and really quite muted and even austere on the nose. And then very fleshy and even rather gorgeous on the palate. Wonderfully refined tannins and quite broad fruit but there is a nub of something a little green in the fruit itself? Demanding on the taster - not least because this will need long ageing. Nothing hot about this. Great freshness and sweetness. The acidity nicely counterbalances the alcohol. 15.1%