Soft, delicious, and fully mature, this is very fine wine and quite an accomplishment in a dreadful vintage. The wine shows dark plum/ruby color with some amber at the edge. The nose offers black fruits intermixed with a hint of herbs, mineral, and mushroom. The wine is round, richly fruity, with some sweet tannin in the finish. Drink it over the next 5-6 years. Last tasted, 9/02.

The 1992 La Mission Haut-Brion is a vintage that I have only met once, although that is no great loss. This is one-dimensional and staid on the nose, and the palate feels rather hollow and green, lacking both fruit and matière due to the higher Merlot content. Bottles should have been consumed by now. My score was probably generous! Tasted at the La Mission Haut-Brion vertical in London.

Very pale rim. Light, mild nose and pretty tight and austere. Very dry. Where’s the fruit? (JR)