Producer Profile
Red Wine
Area under vines: 27 hectares
Soils: gravel on sandy clay subsoil
Average age of the vines: 27 years
Planting density: 10 000 vines/ha
Production: 6000 to 7000 cases a year
Ageing: in 80% new oak barrels for 18-22 months
Grape varieties:
- Merlot 42,7%
- Cabernet Sauvignon 47%
- Cabernet France 10,3%
White Wine
Area under vines: 3 hectares
Soils: gravel on sandy clay subsoil
Average age of the vines: 27 years
Planting density: 10 000 vines/ha
Production: 500 to 700 cases a year
Ageing: in 50% new oak barrels for 9 to 12 months
Grape varieties:
- Semillon 85%
- Sauvignon 14%
- Muscadelle 1%
The Chateau makes four other wines:
Tasting Notes
Vinous 97
The 2009 La Mission Haut-Brion has a wonderful, extravagant bouquet with a slight medicinal note (not apparent on the bottle poured blind the following week) infusing the precocious red fruit, all beautifully defined with star anise and bayleaf developing. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, very well judged acidity, precocious in style with a long finish that maintains that medicinal leitmotif. Wonderful. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits’ Ten Year On tasting. [Neal Martin, 14/03/2019]
Anticipated maturity: 2022-2060
JancisRobinson.com 18/20
Tasted blind. Still some blue in the crimson. Slightly cheesy nose. Then very polished and accomplished. Alcoholic heat is evident here. But it does taste as though an amazing amount of care has been lavished on it. It could already be enjoyed! Very slightly inky. [14/02/2019]
Anticipated maturity: 2019-2045
Robert Parker 100
The 2009 was not part of this vertical tasting, so I am repeating the tasting note published in issue #199 of The Wine Advocate from a tasting done in January, 2012. A candidate for the wine of the vintage, the 2009 La Mission-Haut-Brion stood out as one of the most exceptional young wines I had ever tasted from barrel, and its greatness has been confirmed in the bottle. A remarkable effort from the Dillon family, this is another large-scaled La Mission that tips the scales at 15% alcohol. A blend of equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (47% of each) and the rest Cabernet Franc, it exhibits an opaque purple color as well as a magnificent bouquet of truffles, scorched earth, blackberry and blueberry liqueur, subtle smoke and spring flowers. The wine’s remarkable concentration offers up an unctuous/viscous texture, a skyscraper-like mouthfeel, sweet, sumptuous, nearly over-the-top flavors and massive density. Perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime La Mission-Haut-Brion, the 2009 will take its place alongside the many great wines made here since the early 1920s. The good news is that there are nearly 6,000 cases of the 2009. It should last for 50-75+ years. Given the wine’s unctuosity and sweetness of the tannin, I would have no problem drinking it in about 5-6 years. The final blend was 47% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Cabernet Franc. [Robert Parker, 01/08/2012]
