Beautiful fruit with plum and spice with hints of hazelnuts. Lovely tannins and body to this second wine of La MIssion. Balanced.

The 2012 La Chapelle de La Mission Haut-Brion shows many of the aromatic signatures of this site, but the tannins remain quite imposing and in need of time to soften. Smoke, graphite, cured meats, menthol and dark fruit are some of the scents that emerge from this virile yet wonderfully nuanced second wine from La Mission Haut-Brion.

Blackcurrant, scorched earth and toast; blackcurrant and a touch of blackberry liqueur. Shows really good vibrancy and ripe fruit. Should be approachable pretty early on – good promise.

The beautiful second wine, the 2012 La Chapelle de La Mission Haut Brion, has a dense ruby/purple color, sweet raspberry and blackcurrant fruit, subtle earth and spice, supple tannins and an opulent fleshy mouthfeel. It is a terrific second wine and outstanding in its own right. Drink it over the next 12-15 years.

Features a bright savory note, offering violet, plum and crushed cherry fruit. Presents a lightly stony finish, with the savory edge taking an encore. Shows the herbal side of Cabernet in this vintage. Tasted non-blind. —J.M.

[56CS/28.5M/15.5CF] Ripe but youthfully raw cabernet nose (56%Cab Sauv!) lively, sapid wine, fresh, fruity and mineral with a very fine tannin; gently aromatic, long and linear and refined with a fine ripe Cabernet flavour, but where you also taste the Cabernet Franc subtlety; long and fragrant to finish. A very nice example. 2019-29 [M.Schuster, Bordeaux Mar/Apr 2013]

The La Chapelle is a blend of 28.5% Merlot, 56% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15.5% Cabernet Franc. The nose is very attractive with lifted cedar and dried herb scents, dusky black fruit and smoke. The palate is medium-bodied with a cedar-infused entry. This is a linear La Chapelle, very fresh in the mouth with a brittle texture towards the edgy finish. Fine. Tasted April 2013.

The elegant, medium-bodied, supple-textured, soft, velvety La Chapelle exhibits notes of damp earth, forest floor, raspberry and blueberry fruit. One-third of the production made it into this second wine, which should drink nicely for a decade or more. Drink: 2013 - 2023 Like its bigger sibling, the second wine, the 2012 La Chapelle de la Mission, was the result of a harvest that occurred between September 17 and October 9. (Keep in mind that the micro-climate of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion is essentially within a highly developed suburb of Bordeaux.)

56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28.5% Merlot, 15.5% Cabernet Franc. Dark lustrous crimson. Something just a little skinny and herbaceous on the nose. Firm and dry on the palate. Very angular and with dry tannins dominating fruit. May always be a little demanding. Though it has the imprimatur of top-quality oak. Drink 2020-2028