Winemaker Notes
Sought after by wine lovers the world over, Château La Mission Haut-Brion white is extremely rare (400 cases per vintage). Formerly named Château Laville Haut-Brion, the Château La Mission Haut-Brion white is a wine for connoisseurs. This wine is a beautiful pale yellow in color with glints of green. The first nose of this wine is marked by the beautiful maturity of fruit that is ripe without heaviness. When swirled in the glass, the Sémillon dominates, accompanied by notes of lime. The first expression is broad and flavorful, leading into a more complex fullness, balanced by a discreet but highly effective acidity, with a surprisingly long finish. This La Mission vintage will continue to improve with a few years of ageing. With its perfectly ripe Sémillons, 2019 is the model of a La Mission Blanc in its prime, combining the sun-drenched character of 2015 with a very nice freshness.
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesBarrel Sample: 100
Much more Semillon-based compared to its stablemate, the Haut-Brion Blanc, the 2019 Château La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc is 70% Semillon and 30% Sauvignon Blanc. It's a much more subdued, classic Semillon, offering ripe peach, honeyed lime, sappy herbs, and chalky mineral nuances that show even more on the palate. Rich, layered, and medium to full-bodied, it's another blockbuster of a white from this estate that has everything you could want from a Bordeaux Blanc. It opens up beautifully with time in the glass, is flawlessly balanced, and just a thrill a second. It should evolve for 20-30 years as well. Best after 2022.
Barrel Sample: 96
The 2019 Haut-Brion Blanc is richer and rounder than its stablemate across the street, bursting with aromas of peaches, citrus zest, ripe orchard fruit, pastry cream and white flowers. Full-bodied, broad and textural, it's ample and enveloping, with a demonstrative core of fruit, lively acids and a long, saline finish. Best after 2021.
Extroverted, with an energetic display of white peach, Key lime, verbena, oyster shell and quinine notes that are well-defined as they extend through a lengthy finish. Features real tension and drive too, which most whites in this vintage lack. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.