WTN: La Mission Haut-Brion vertical in NYC

Ten of us met at Jean Georges/Nougatine in NYC for a vertical of La Mission Haut-Brion. A lovely night of fantastic food and top rate wonderful wine. I had very little prior experience with this wine. I found it to be excellent, although due to the high cost I doubt I'll be buying much if any in the future. Overall I found it to be just a hair behind first growth quality.


2004 Château Lynch-Bages Blanc
Clean, crisp with a long yeasty aftertaste. Grassy, sharp & acidic with round floral undertones. I don't usually go for white Bordeaux, but this was pretty nice and well made.
B/B-



2003 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Sweet core with dark tar center. Hot, big & powerful. Ripe tannins, a bit rough. Some herbal notes and tobacco poking through.
B++

1998 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Corked.



1992 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
A bit hard with some nice secondary flavors. Nice sweet tobacco, iron tannins, cedar. A pretty wine, fairly light claret. Lovely.
B

1985 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
A little tired, leathery. Warm but lacking punch. Watery/weak in the middle with some sweetness. I usually love 1985 Bordeaux, but this was just flat.
B/B-



1996 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Powerful, deep, rich with sweet juicy tannins. Still a youngster, but very nice. Firm. Has a very promising future. I just love 1996 left bank Bordeaux.
A-

1995 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Nice sweet fruit with acidic tannins. Metallic with soft smooth fruit, a bit simple but good.
B+



1990 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Rich, sweet, absolutely beautiful. Strong, intense, powerful. Some sweet tannins, rich glycerine and deep dark tar to hold it together. Could use some age, but drinking well now. Not as complex as some of the other wines of the evening, but really lovely. An extraordinary wine, my WOTN.
A/A+

1988 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Strong, powerful, dense. Harder, less round than the 1990 and less obvious. Very nice.
A-

1981 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Tannins are a bit reedy. Herbal, cedar, medium light weight with some subtlety. Pretty, but not substantial.
B/B+



1978 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Very nice, complex, herbal, sweet and full. Still quite young.
B+/A-

1975 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Still has sweet fruit and lots of tannins. Hard edged, big wine. Rounder, sweeter fruit than most 1975's I've had, but still not my favorite.
B/B+

1962 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
A bit soft. Nice but simple. Perhaps slightly corked.
B-

1986 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Strong with high toned tannins. Clean, clear but lacking depth and punch. Long acidic tannins.
B

Great notes, thanks!

[Jenise]

Had the '90 in August--your notes brought it all back, thanks!

A B from Matt for the '92 is impressive. Definitely a wine that is consistent.

I believe that was my first 1992 Bordeaux. While I understand it's an anomaly for the vintage, it was a very nice wine. LMHB seems to have the wine of the vintage in both 92 and 75 (and I'm sure a lot of others as well).

Thanks for the notes, Matt. Regards, Bob

Thanks for the notes Matt.
I'm especially glad about the '96 which I had a good experience with a few years ago and, from your notes, it looks like I'll be keeping away from my remaining couple of bottles.

Ramon-

The '96 displays all of the great qualities of the other '96's we love so much. Further patience will be rewarded, although if you have it in quantity popping one now is not a crime.