Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion 2016

Full, dense, austere texture, also fleshy, very closed, needs long ageing.

This is super vivid, offering cassis, blackberry, raspberry and blueberry compote flavors that bristle with energy while a mouthwatering frame of anise and apple wood adds electric energy. This is borderline rambunctious but it's bridled well enough and when the fruit and wood sides mesh fully, this will be a rock star. Best from 2025 through 2040. 7,300 cases made.

In 2016, La Mission produced another stunning first-growth lookalike that rivals Haut-Brion across the road. Deep and intense in color, flavor, and nose, it shows intriguing exotic notes alongside a meaty character and pronounced toasty oak. The fruit is sweet and ripe, while Asian spices add further intrigue to the mineral-driven finish. No hurry to drink this.

Regal wine, showing alluringly ripe and dark plums, that carries a wealth of complexity in its DNA – fine spices, leaves, graphite, violets and more. The palate has very precise drive and a super-focused style, delivering authoritative tannins arranged in a linear fashion. Power with elegance. Try from 2024.

The 2016 La Mission Haut-Brion was stunning from barrel, and now in bottle. It has a sublime bouquet of blackberries, briar and hints of dark chocolate and rose petals that gain intensity with aeration while maintaining ethereal delineation. It never steps on the accelerator too hard. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. There is still a veneer of new oak that will need to be assimilated over the coming years. This is a deep La Mission that caresses the mouth. Touches of graphite lingering on a finish that fans out gloriously. Is the 2016 up there with the 1955 or 1989? Nearly.

This massive wall of fruit, rocks, stone, tannin and scorched earth hits you in all the right places. Dense, intense and concentrated, the fruit on the palate and on the nose comes with this fabulous campfire ember note. This is a long-term hold. So be prepared to wait for as long as 2 decades for the wine to really show off its greatness. It will be worth the wait if you are either young enough, rich enough, or both!

Dark ruby garnet, opaque core, discreet rim brightening, delicately tobacco-balsamic background of Black Forest berry confit, sweet precious wood, savouriness, fine exoticism. Substantial, elegant, taut texture, vivid, well-integrated tannins, pronounced fruit touch on the finish, very good length, fine wood savouriness on the echo, promising certain ageing potential.

Roasted nose, fine oak, coffee, leather, tar with cassis and smoked meat. Dense and grainy palate with powdery tannin, fresh acidity, layers of crushed fruit, with a very long, fresh and pure finish.

The 2016 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion checks in as a Merlot-heavy blend, 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. About as pure and seamless (yet sexy) as they come in the vintage, it offers awesome notes of dried flowers, sweet currants, cedarwood, forest floor, and exotic spices. With a flawless texture, medium to full body, and ultra-fine tannins, this beauty builds incrementally on the palate with terrific mid-palate depth and a stunning finish. It’s sexier and more charming compared to the more backward Haut Brion, yet I suspect it will age just as long.

Dense purple. What a feminine delicacy! Airy blueberry and praline chocolate notes, with morello cherry, licorice and dark fine wood in the background. On the powerful palate with supportive tannins; the finish shows mocha and walnut, ending in a long finale with fine astringency. Patience is required here – it can still improve! 18.5/20

Kunz barrel sample 17: (57.5% Merlot, 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon) Deep, creamy, complex, powerful bouquet: black berries, fine dried plums, mocha cream, noble woods, licorice, tobacco, truffle. Densely woven, multi-layered, powerful palate with concentrated fruit, a velvety, well-muscled structure, plenty of fine tannins, powerful, dark, varied aromatics, and a very long, full finish with many lingering flavors.

(57.5% Merlot, 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon) Deep, creamy, complex, powerful bouquet; black berries, subtle prunes, mocha cream, fine woods, licorice, tobacco, truffle. Densely woven, multilayered, powerful palate with concentrated fruit, a velvety, well-muscled structure, plenty of fine tannins, a strong, dark, multifaceted aromatic profile, and a very long, full finish with extensive afterflavors. 19/20 2025 - 2060

A blend of 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2016 La Mission Haut-Brion is deep garnet-purple in color. It is uncharacteristically shy to begin, needing considerable coaxing to unlock notes of blackcurrant cordial, black cherries, and wild blueberries, plus opulent wafts of rose oil, Chinese five spice, dried lavender, and licorice. The full-bodied palate explodes with a whole array of cassis and blackberry preserves layers, followed by sparks of exotic spices and dried flowers, supported by very fine, exquisitely ripe tannins, leading to a firework display of spices and minerals on the finish of this atomic wine.

The 2016 is closed, showing notes of oak and smoke. A mute wine for now, yet with tremendous energy. Time will loosen it and allow its potential to express itself. It should be forgotten for a while.

Garnet red with violet highlights. Superb bouquet, intense and complex. It brilliantly reveals its terroir, and I note a multitude of aromas suggesting juiciness, freshness, and finesse. Among others, I detect scents of licorice wood, a touch of violet, and English sweets. On the palate, the attack confirms its aptitudes; it is intensely fruity and inviting. The body underscores the power of Mission 2016; it is racy, with precise, fine-grained tannins, in perfect harmony with a structure that ideally provides support. I also note a lovely touch of bitterness that bolsters the aromatic expression and gives power to the finish. A great Mission Haut Brion, probably one of the greatest since the legendary 1989.

Logo on the cork: inverted T (Trescases) Dark, intense, purple and beautiful color. Superb, highly aromatic nose—refined, subtle, deep, and noble. Broad on the attack, velvety throughout its passage on the palate, very perfumed, with a silky touch; the wine gains power on the finish without ever showing tannin. Complex flavors of raspberry and ripe fruit, with a delicate, noble smoky note. A great wine that is currently closing down.

As so often with this estate, this is a generous, opulent wine. This year a strong tannic element gives the wine a good structure. Smoky, textured and powerful, it needs many years to mature. Do not drink this wine before 2026.