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Floral perfumed wild hedgerow fruits on the nose. This is a hugely textured wine, with lovely volume giving generosity and harmony. Tremendously balanced style with masses of coffee and spice, the finely stitched tannic tapestry wraps around the tender fruit core. Noticeable richness on the finish. This is so true to the appellation. There is a sweet flicker of black treacle at the end of this hugely poised, magnificent wine.
Floral perfumed wild hedgerow fruits on the nose. This is a hugely textured wine, with lovely volume giving generosity and harmony. Tremendously balanced style with masses of coffee and spice, the finely stitched tannic tapestry wraps around the tender fruit core. Noticeable richness on the finish. This is so true to the appellation. There is a sweet flicker of black treacle at the end of this hugely poised, magnificent wine.
The 2015 La Mission Haut-Brion is blessed with an outstanding bouquet of brilliantly focused and delineated black fruit laced with graphite and cedar - pure class. The medium-bodied, harmonious palate delivers fine-grained tannin and impressive depth. There is a slight savory element (just like the Haut-Brion) that infuses the middle, and brown spices and sage linger on the finish. This is a profound La Mission Haut-Brion that dares surpass Haut-Brion on this showing. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.
The 2015 La Mission Haut Brion is a blend of 58% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc that was picked between 9 September and 1 October. Matured in 78% new oak, it has an incredibly pure bouquet with intense blueberry, blackberry, iodine and cold stone aromas that soar from the glass. There is nothing holding back here - a La Mission with real exuberance. The palate is medium-bodied with incredible intensity in the mouth, but without any leaden weight. It is a startling La Mission Haut-Brion to behold at this early stage. It is one of those wines where as a professional critic, I had to adopt a poker face to hide the untrammeled joy this nascent wine imparts. Complete and profound, the 2015 will rank as one of the great modern-day classics from this grand estate, another to add to that long list of magical La Missions.
In 2015, La Mission Haut-Brion is translucent and deeply expressive to the core. Remarkably polished for such a young wine, the 2015 also handles its 15% alcohol with grace. Smoke, graphite, tar, leather and incense, the 2015 exudes intensity allied to freshness, a combination that makes it virtually irresistible in my book. The 2015 is also remarkably nuanced for such a big wine, but it has tremendous persistence in all directions. Scents of rose petal, mint, red cherry and pomegranate meld into the voluptuous finish. Tasted two times.
The purity in this wine is really mindblowing. So perfect. Licorice. Stone. Blackberry, blueberry. Full body. The power is amazing. But then it finishes etheral and so agile and beautiful. I am lost for words. This will rank with the best ever from here including 1975 and 1929. 58% merlot, 35% cabernet sauvignon, and cabernet franc.
Taut and tense from the off: coffee, smoky almond and pulsing with vibrancy and energy. Reservations over the high alcohol at 15.1%abv but 3.74pH means you barely feel it. Such beautiful tannic grip and sense of forward motion, showing great ageing potential. Beautiful length of damson and loganberry fruits and fragrant heather and garden herbs. Lovely texture, structured and tannic hold. 78% new oak.
(58 Merlot, 35 Cabernet Sauvignon, 7 Cabernet Franc) | 78% new oak. | 15.1% alc. | 75 IPT. What this wine brings to the party is volume and power. I was completely taken by La Chapelle (the second wine), but the Grand Vin improves on this in every facet of a great wine. This is so commanding and noble that it beggars belief. The earth is the foundation to this wine and it is spellbinding and all-encompassing. A work of art and one which will live for an eternity. I can’t imagine being able to drink this wine in my lifetime it is so fantastically youthful and closed.
8% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon. Picked from 9 September to 1 October. Very dark and glamorous-looking. Fairly dumb nose but obviously great weight and intensity. A big brooding monster! Massive charge of tannins. Big and pretty alcoholic on the end. Not very communicative at the moment. Lots of palate-tanning tannins. After a while in the glass, a whiff of cordite emerged. Sorcery?! 15.1% Drink 2030-2050
Marking a huge contrast with the cooler, more graceful 2014 (which I prefer), this is a muscular, even monumental red: tannic, concentrated and a little pruney. It teeters on the edge of excess, but it is pulled back by its acidity. I will watch how it ages with interest. Drink: 2025-35
Stretching from the rather unglamorous southern suburbs of Bordeaux, for 50 km along the left bank of the river Garonne, lies Graves. Named for its gravelly soil, a relic of Ice Age glaciers, this is the birthplace of claret, despatched from the Middle Ages onwards from the nearby quayside to England in vast quantities. It can feel as though Bordeaux is just about red wines, but some sensational white wines are produced in this area from a blend of sauvignon blanc, Semillon and, occasionally, muscadelle grapes, often fermented and aged in barrel. In particular, Domaine de Chevalier is renowned for its superbly complex whites, which continue to develop in bottle over decades. A premium appellation, Pessac-Leognan, was created in 1987 for the most prestigious terroirs within Graves. These are soils with exceptional drainage, made up of gravel terraces built up in layers over many millennia, and consequently thrive in mediocre vintages but are less likely to perform well in hotter years. These wines were appraised and graded in their own classification system in 1953 and updated in 1959, but, like the 1855 classification system, this should be regarded with caution and the wines must absolutely be assessed on their own current merits.
