2018 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion

Although it emerges from a similar terroir and the same winemaking team, the 2018 Château La Mission Haut-Brion is a dramatically different wine than the Haut-Brion and has a more concentrated, dense, powerful style that is all potential at this point. Dense purple-hued, with lots of crème de cassis, black cherries, smoked meats, lead pencil, graphite, and crushed stone aromatics, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a concentrated mid-palate, masses of ripe tannins, integrated acidity, and one hell of a finish. This blockbuster, backward, monster of a La Mission Haut-Brion needs to be forgotten for a good decade (or more) but is going to be just about immortal - 100/100 points by Jeb Dunnuck

La Mission Haut Brion is from the Pessac-Leognan appellation within the Bordeaux region. The 2018 La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 53.5% Merlot, 42.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3.6% Cabernet Franc. In 1664, the estate was acquired by the Congregation of the Mission; the fathers in this group fancied themselves viticultural specialists, committed to finding and planting according to the land. A devotee to the wines, Marshal de Richelieu, once said "If God forbade drinking, would he have made such good wine?"