Like HAUT-BRION, this property is owned by the Domaine Clarence Dillon. La Mission is only surpassed among Graves reds by Haut-Brion itself. This is a massive, dense and powerful red. Dark, mineral and black fruits are underpinned by cedar and oak. While the wine perhaps lacks the absolute refinement of its illustrious stablemate, it hasn’t fallen far short and is on occasion the more impressive of the two. It’s not really there to be appreciated until at least 15 to 20 years after the vintage and so00, 98 and 95 could be considered recent benchmarks and 90, 89, 82, 78 and 75 being of legendary quality. It has continued to be on song under the direction of Jean-Philippe Delmas from 2005 onwards, but patience is going to be required to get the best out of this wine. The white originally produced here and labelled Laville Haut- Brion has been renamedsince the 2009 vintage. It is a blend of mainly Sémillon, with Sauvignon Blanc and just a hint of Muscadelle, and comes from a separate and distinct vineyard plot. The second red wine, La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion, is impressive in the ripest years. A second white La Clarté de Haut-Brion, comes from fruit from both Haut-Brion and la Mission Haut-Brion. (DM/NB)
