Sweet berry and sweet tobacco with chocolate and orange peel on the nose. Full and velvety tannins and long finish. Gorgeous. Creamy texture. Try in 2016.

Served blind at the Southwold 2009 tasting. Nobody could quite believe how well the Chapelle de la Mission ‘09 showed under blind conditions. It is endowed with a quintessential Graves-like nose with ebullient black fruit, black olive, singed leather and a touch of graphite. It is very composed and focused, the oak very well embroidered into the fruit profile. The palate is backward and tightly coiled at the moment with insistent grip towards the bright, luscious finish that manages to maintain tension and poise. This is offering so much pleasure now - it will be interesting to see how it evolves. Tasted January 2013.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 29/02/2012
The second wine, the 2009 La Chapelle de la Mission, is essentially an equal part blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with slightly more Cabernet Franc that came in at 14.2% natural alcohol. It reveals an extraordinary meaty nose displaying hints of volcanic soils, burning embers, sweet black currants, blueberries, plums, tobacco leaf and wet stones. This tasty, full-bodied, supple-textured beauty should drink well for 15-20 years.

There are approximately 2,000 cases of the 2009 La Chapelle de La Mission, the best one I have ever tasted. A blend of nearly equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with 10% Cabernet Franc added in, it achieved 14.2% natural alcohol. The wine is a remarkable effort, with amazing density, extraordinary fruit quality, dense purple color with meaty notes alongside subtle barbecue smoke, camphor, black currant, sweet cherry, and blackberry. It has a lush, opulent texture, loads of glycerin, and admirable purity and length. I could have drunk a bottle or two just tasting it from the barrel! It should evolve for 10-15 or more years. (Tasted two times.) Harvest started around September 9 at La Mission Haut-Brion, and finished almost a month later, on October 6. To get an idea of just how extraordinary all the wines from the Dillon family are in 2009, just consider how phenomenal the second wines are. (91-94)

The second wine, the 2009 La Chapelle de la Mission, is essentially an equal part blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with slightly more Cabernet Franc that came in at 14.2% natural alcohol. It reveals an extraordinary meaty nose displaying hints of volcanic soils, burning embers, sweet black currants, blueberries, plums, tobacco leaf and wet stones. This tasty, full-bodied, supple-textured beauty should drink well for 15-20 years.

Deep ruby. Deep, complex nose of blackcurrant, coffee and fresh herbs. Similarly complex on the palate, offering rich yet fresh flavors of black fruits, aromatic herbs and cocoa along with a hint of violet. This long, youthfully chewy wine is much bigger than the very good 2008. Like La Mission, this has improved greatly since the Primeurs, when I probably underrated it by a point or two. Don't think I'm crazy when I tell you that this wine is very close in quality to some La Missions from lesser vintages of the past.

(46% cabernet sauvignon, 44% merlot and 10% cabernet franc; ph 3.87; 70 IPT) Ruby-red. Perfumed, deep aromas of minty raspberry and ripe strawberry. Enters smooth but dense, offering rich redcurrant, strawberry, cedar and floral flavors. Finishes with a slightly chalky mouth feel to the otherwise fine-grained tannins, and with persistent floral lift. A very successful second wine that in '09 is the quality equivalent of many top wines of the appellation.

Tasted blind. Dull greyish crimson. Pretty dry fruit but fresh on the way to the finish. Lots of energy here. Though it doesn’t quite follow through on the finish. (JR)

Deep cherry. Smoky dark fruit but more fresh fruit than sweet fruit. Cool, rounded but deep tannins. Super smooth, then dry and more savoury on the palate. Elegant but generous too. Impressive length. (JH)

[46CS/44M/10CF] On the nose the rich, faintly roasted character that one gets in very ripe vintages (82/89) but minerality as well; full, weighty, mouthfilling wine with very firm tannins; sweet ripe blackberry fruit; rich, warm, ripe and mouthfilling, alcoholic warmth upfront and on the finish, moderate complexity and good length - warm and spicy. Large scale Chapelle de La Mission. Fairly long term. 10yrs +? 2020-30