An enticing nose which blends a saline, sea-breeze character with fresh and dried herbs and a touch of sweet spice – nutmeg even. The palate has a rich, creamy, smooth layer above the fruit which is zesty and intense. Shows real depth, with lemon, grapefruit and slightly tropical notes. Delicious, slightly savoury length - certainly one of the very best wines from this white-friendly vintage.

A blend of 72.9% Semillon and 27.1% Sauvignon, the 2011 has a very strict, focused bouquet with Granny Smith apple, lime zest, lemon rind and a touch of chalk dust. The palate is fresh and vibrant on the entry with an edgy citric thread and than it fans out beautifully towards the very delineated finish. This is a fabulous wine with great precision and length. Tasted April 2012.

(73% semillon and 27% sauvignon blanc): Pale straw-green. Lovely semillon aromas of white peach and beeswax complicated by lavender, jasmine and minerals. Multilayered and complex on the palate, showing more minerality to go with the very intense, pure flavors of peach, lemon and green fig. The sauvignon blanc really stands out on the long, deep finish. This very bright, focused wine is one of the stars of the vintage, red wines included.

The 2011 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc is a beauty! Giving up a medium gold color and exotic notes of lychee nut, pineapple, honeysuckle, and marmalade, this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a sexy, rounded, decadent texture, and vibrant acidity. The blend is 73% Semillon and 27% Sauvignon Blanc, and it should continue drinking beautifully for a least a decade.

Racy and distinctive, with green plum, kiwifruit, grapefruit and verbena notes all still wrestling with one another, but showing great energy and length. A lovely macadamia nut note lurks in the background, and this has a lot of stretching out to do. Tasted non-blind.—J.M.

No tasting note given

Also great values, no tasting note given.

Drink 2017-2032 27.1% Sauvignon Blanc, 72.9% Semillon. Clear and citrusy on the nose, zesty and aromatic - grapefruit and greengage. A little less intense in the middle perhaps, or maybe it seems so because the attack and finish are powerful. So much spice, it almost feels like spritz. Lovely creamy texture and very rich, hiding the acidity though it is clearly brightly there. A real fine spine down the middle. Really long and so not ready to drink. (JH) 14.6%

The purity of fruit in this white is phenomenal. It’s like looking through a thin, perfectly clear crystal. Aromas of sliced apples, lemons, fresh pineapples and lilacs. Full body but perfectly balanced between fruit and acidity. Mineral and intense. Lightly salty and bitter like a peach pit. Electrifying wine. Greatest white ever from here. It lasts for minutes on the palate. 73% sauvignon blanc and 27% sémillon.