Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion (1.5 Liter Magnum) 2019

Professional Ratings

• 100 James Suckling
  A tight and structured La Mission that takes you deep into the glass with super intensity and power. The tannins are omnipresent and envelop the palate. It’s full-bodied yet agile and complete. Iodine, sweet-tobacco and blackberry character. It seems never to finish. Another WOW wine that reminds me of some of the great classics of this estate, such as the 1955.
  Barrel Sample: 99-100
• 100 Jeb Dunnuck

  The 2019 Château La Mission Haut-Brion is Merlot-dominated, checking in as 53% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc. It's a more opulent wine compared to Haut-Brion, and the Merlot is front and center here, with ripe, sexy black cherry and redcurrant fruits as well as licorice, scorched earth, cedar pencil, and graphite aromas and flavors. Rich, exuberant, and straight up sexy on the palate, it's full-bodied, has a deep, layered mid-palate, building tannins, and a heavenly finish. Just a prodigious, powerful, off-the-charts expression of this terroir, it actually reminds me slightly of the 2005 (or 1998?) with its mix of sexiness and opulence. This is one of the few 2019s that will make your eyes roll back in your head. It will need 10-15 years of cellaring, but it’s a sensational wine on every level and will have 40+ years of prime drinking. Best after 2032.

• 98 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  Wafting from the glass with aromas of blackberries and plums mingled with notions of pencil shavings, burning embers and creamy new oak, the 2019 Haut-Brion is full-bodied, rich and fleshy, with a textural attack that segues into an ample and enveloping core of fruit, concluding with a long, expansive finish. Broad-shouldered and muscular, its rich, powdery tannins are already seamlessly integrated; and though it's labeled at 15% alcohol, far higher than the great vintages of yesteryear, it avoids any sense of over-ripeness. Best after 2033.

• 98 Wine Enthusiast
  Showing a stylish face to the world, this wine has a wonderful combination of dark fruits and rich tannins. It is full, with ripe Merlot revealing a dense structure and opulent potential. The wine is set for a long, slow aging.
  Barrel Sample: 96-98
• 96 Decanter
  Wonderful depth of flavour, a signature of this château that is just so elegant but is always happy to oblige in delivering delightfully sappy, seductive, gently spiced fruit. Cigar box and tobacco notes, floral peony and iris aromatics. Great second wave of aromatics that is striking and increases the density and width of the palate. Oak already feels integrated even at this early stage. 50% 1st wine.
  Barrel Sample: 96
• 95 Wine Spectator

  Captures the essence of the vintage as well as possible, with a lovely swath of cassis, plum puree and cherry compote flavors that glides along, showing just enough buried spine in the form of alder and iron notes to give this form. Features alluring red tea and savory details that add range on the lengthy finish. Approachable already, but there's no rush here. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2023.