It is now exactly 30 years since Chateau La Mission Haut Brion was purchased by Domaine Clarence Dillon (owners of neighbouring Chateau Haut Brion) from the Woltner family. The Woltners had bought this great Pessac property themselves in 1918.
Since the purchase in November 1983, the Estate and the Chateau itself have been comprehensively renovated by the new owners. Prince Robert of Luxembourg, Grandson of C Douglas Dillon, is now the President of Domaine Clarence Dillon and he regards La Mission as very much an equal of Haut Brion. Indeed, it has, for many years, been regarded as the unofficial sixth First Growth of Bordeaux. In 1987 a highly technical, modern vat room was built and in 2007 they went on to build new chais, a new tasting room and a bottling centre.
In 2006 the quality of the second label – La Chapelle de la Mission - was increased by incorporating all the production of La Tour Haut Brion into the blend. The famous white wine produced here – Laville Haut Brion – was renamed Chateau La Mission Haut Brion Blanc in 2009.
La Mission Haut Brion itself is produced from a 26 hectare vineyard that is planted with 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 43% Merlot. The first wine can be made from a majority of either Cabernet or Merlot depending on the quality of the two cépages in each vintage. The wine is aged in oak barrels (80% of which are new) for 18-22 months and production is around 6000 cases a year.
La Mission Haut Brion Blanc is probably the world’s greatest dry white wine produced from Semillon grapes. The 2 hectare vineyard is planted with 88% Semillon and 12% Sauvignon Blanc and not much more than 600 cases are produced annually. Barrels not considered good enough for the “grand vin” are used (along with lesser barrels of Haut Brion Blanc) for the second label “les Plantiers Haut Brion”.
The White Wine of la Mission, new label and old label.
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La Chapelle de la Mission is certainly one of Bordeaux’s finest second wines. Annual production is around 3000 cases with the selection process being made by blind tastings. A third selection is used for “Clarendelle” and a fourth selection for the vineyard workers.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the purchase of La Mission Haut Brion, Prince Robert and his Estate Manager, Jean-Philippe Delmas, teamed up with Farr Vintners and 5 Hertford Street to organise a fabulous dinner in November 2013 with a selection of outstanding vintages.
We kicked off with the classic Laville Haut Brion 2006 which is a fine example of dry Semillon. The wet wool and jasmine nose is followed by an oily, full-bodied texture. There is impressive weight and lanolin on the palate. Rich, full, not completely dry, with a touch of honey, this is complex and very Semillon in style.
Despite being made from 84% Semillon, The La Mission Haut Brion Blanc 2009 is a different kind of wine, that tasted much more fresh and complex than the 2006. Extremely aromatic (it could almost be from Alsace on the nose) with floral notes, honeysuckle and exotic spices. The palate is creamy and dense but with good acidity and freshness. Citric notes balance the richness of the fruit. Vibrant yet smooth and full.
Our first red of the night was La Chapelle de la Mission 2010. This is extremely impressive for a second wine with a black colour and an intense graphite and road tar nose. Deep, chewy and with lots of power. There is a firm grip here which means that it needs a few years to soften. Because of the high proportion of Merlot used in the grand vin this is made from 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, only 27% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc. This is a classic Graves with dense black cassis fruit, charcoal, liquorice, barbeque and tobacco notes. This is impressive but it really needs another 5 years before it is ready to drink.
La Mission Haut Brion 2009 was made from an equal blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (47% each) with 6% Cabernet Franc. This is an awesome wine that is a textbook Pessac-Leognan. Yet it combines the flesh of a great Pomerol and the structure of a classic Pauillac in equal measures. In many 2009’s the character of this ripe and opulent vintage over-shadows the sense of terroir, but not here. This is one 2009 that is genuinely classically structured. A monster of a wine with a dense, opaque black colour. The huge nose soars from the glass with notes of black truffles, cigar box and roasted meat. The palate is stacked full of blackcurrant fruit and is incredibly long and tarry. This is a long-term classic that will probably out-live us all.
La Mission Haut Brion 2005 has an similarly black colour. This vintage is maturing at a snail’s pace and although this wine was made from 68% Merlot it has the backbone and structure of Cabernet Sauvignon. Amazing intensity here. This is a strapping, brooding, backward wine. The nose is a little closed but there are the tell-tale signs of road tar and truffles. The palate shows fabulous concentration and great length but it’s completely un-ready and stubborn. This may take another 15 years to blossom but when it does it will be a modern-day version of the 1961.
A fantastic line up of La Mission
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La Mission Haut Brion 2000 – another very youthful colour! At 13 years of age this could easily be mistaken for a 3 year old wine! Sweeter than the 2005, this black beauty has a fabulous concentration of super-ripe black fruit with hints of pencil shavings, Asian spices and liquorice. Most 2000’s are now beginning to open up and drink well, not this one. This is a monster wine that needs at least another 5 years. Maybe it won’t be ready until its 20th birthday. Masculine, rugged and monumental.
La Mission Haut Brion 1990 – what a relief, finally a wine that’s ready to drink! Forever over-shadowed by the famous 1989 vintage here, this is nevertheless a great wine in its own right. There is a wonderful, soaring cigar-box nose with smoky bacon and exotic spice aromas. The palate is very sexy and ripe with notes of chocolate, coffee bean, Havana cigars and BBQ meat. There is a lovely cashmere texture and soft tannins. The essence of Graves, this is perfect to drink now and at half the price of the 1989 (sorry to be vulgar and talk about money) it’s a relative bargain. Very seductive and more-ish.
La Mission Haut Brion 1989 – Smoky on the nose with cigar smoke and lead pencil. This is packed full of aromas flavours like a spice bazaar. Liquorice, creme de cassis, black truffles and tarmac on a hot day. Sweet, opulent and intense on the palate with a velvety texture and silky mouth-feel. A sensational wine of obvious First Growth quality. The only wines of the vintage that could possibly match it are Petrus and Haut Brion.
Jean-Philippe Delmas
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La Mission Haut Brion 1982 – This was not made by the Haut Brion team but it was bottled by them in 1984. The colour is still deep at over 30 years of age, with just a little fade at the rim. This is black velvet. Great sweetness, intensity and length. Not as structured as some La Missions, this is a really sexy, opulent wine that has the glycerine and richness of a great Pomerol but with the unmistakable earthy, smokiness of a classic Graves. Deceptively lovely but powerful and intense. Still a long life ahead of this and without doubt one of the greatest wines of this great vintage.
Many thanks to Prince Robert of Luxembourg, Jean-Philippe Delmas and Tom Hudson of Farr Vintners for organising this fabulous dinner that re-enforced my long-held view that La Mission Haut Brion has always produced wines of clear First Growth quality and continues to do so.
