Tasting Notes and Scores
The 2008 La Mission Haut-Brion has an open, feisty, lively bouquet with blackberry, briary, cedar, black olive and a light seaweed (Japanese nori) aroma. This is wonderful, an intoxicating bouquet. The palate is beautifully balanced with a fine bead of acidity, very focused with good weight and structure. This is a very convincing showing, at the moment more pleasurable than the 2008 Haut-Brion, just so fresh and complex, offering a discrete tertiary, smoke-tinged finish that goes on and on. One of the best 2008s out there. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting.)
– vinous.com, Feb 2018
Neal Martin
Quality 939 | Brand 989 | Economics 947 |
buzz brand, investment staple
Quality: Predicted life of 14 years, one of the longest drinking windows in its peer group, which averages 9 years
Brand: Strong restaurant presence, featuring on 33 of the world's top wine lists, including The River Café at Brooklyn
Economics: Above its peer group average price of £49 for the 2008 vintage
Production: Lower production than its peer group average of 92,455 bottles
- www.wine-lister.com June 2017
Wine Lister
Like a lot of wines in this underrated vintage, the 2008 La Mission was one of the great bargains of recent vintages. Its healthy blue/purple color is followed by aromas of blueberries, black raspberries, licorice, truffles, underbrush and forest floor. The scorched earthy/smoky character of this estate’s terroir has not yet emerged. Medium to full-bodied and concentrated with good acidity, freshness and delineation, this is a big wine for the vintage, but also very classic in its balance of tannin, acidity and extract. It will benefit from another 5-7 years of cellaring and should keep for three decades. The final blend was 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc.
Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #202, Aug 2012)
Wine Advocate
Fascinating aromas of crushed berry, plums, sweet tobacco and stones. Full bodied, with chewy and velvety tannins and a long, long finish. This is very structured and rich with a bright and tangy acidity. Needs time to come together, obviously.
James Suckling
Deep ruby-purple. Expressive aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry, underbrush, smoke and minerals. Juicy, spicy and on the lean side, but with excellent firmness and lift to the dark berry, tar and tobacco flavors. This gained considerable mid-palate sweetness and pliancy with air. But almost austere today on the minerally finish, which features ripe tannins and impressively long, juicy fruit.
Wine Independent
51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc. Aged 15–18 months in 75% new oak.
Heady green, sappy aromas. Blackcurrant fruit and spice too, albeit less obviously than the herbal scent. Then, the palate gives way to more primary fruit, and it is still seems to be in the first flush of youth. Much more development is surely in store. Plenty of tannin to go the distance too.
Richard Hemming MW
Jancis Robinson
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