2021 La Mission Haut Brion
Buying options
Tasting notes
While Ch. Haut-Brion is more creamy and seductive, La Mission stands out for its aromatic complexity and more linear, tannic profile. The wine has a deep purple colour with delightful peony, rose and fired-earth aromatics, while remaining fairly restrained and compact at this stage. The tannins are soft and silky on entry but build structure on the mid-palate, bringing great depth, moderate amounts of power and great freshness, while never feeling lean. While this is more austere than Ch. Haut-Brion, the balance is exceptional. 48% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc
Critic scores
Average Score
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Tasted blind. Very pale. Creamy, alluring nose. Quite rich with lots of lanolin and personality. Only Bordeaux could produce this style of wine. Really rather gorgeous. With considerable potential. (JR)
Black raspberries, dried flowers, tobacco, violets, and a beautiful spicy character emerge from the 2021 Château La Mission Haut-Brion, a pure, medium-bodied, incredibly polished, elegant Péssac-Léognan that has fine tannins, an utterly seamless, graceful mouthfeel, no hard edges, and a gorgeous finish. It plays in the more elegant, fresher style of the vintage yet brings ample depth and richness, has good mid-palate depth, and is already just about impossible to resist. Give bottles just 4-5 years and enjoy over the following two decades.
The 2021 La Mission Haut-Brion has a very cohesive bouquet, well-defined with minerally red and black fruit, hints of white flowers and a distant tang of black olive. The almost "estuarine" element becomes more prominent with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, quite fresh though not a complex or deep La Mission. It is lifted by the salinity and sustain on the finish—also its typicité. Whilst not a wine from the top drawer, it is a fascinating, engaging Pessac that will drink over the next 20 or 30 years.
About the producer
Ch. la Mission Haut-Brion – sister estate of Ch. Haut-Brion and part of the Clarence Dillon stable – is one of the greatest estates in all of Bordeaux. Based in Pessac-Léognan but not officially classified, it produces outstanding red and white wines.