2012 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion, Blanc, Pessac-Leognan

This blend of 84% Semillon and 16% Sauvignon Blanc is from the vineyard that used to be known as Laville Haut-Brion. Bursting with aromas of candle wax, honeyed tangerines, exotic melon and lychee nut-like notes, it exhibits terrific minerality along with a full-bodied mouthfeel, exceptional concentration, great acids and a long finish that lasts 40+ seconds. This killer dry white wine should drink well for 30-40+ years. Drink: 2013 - 2053
-Wine Advocate #206 Apr 2013

This is very clear and precise with limes, lemons and sliced pineapple. Full body, tangy fruit and a dense, caressing, textured finish. Racy. Needs three to four years to soften.

The 2012 La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc is a real stunner. All the elements fall into place in an utterly spellbinding white wine endowed with class and pedigree to burn. A host of orchard fruit, lemon oil, mint and sweet floral notes flesh out, but it is the wine's overall feel and phenomenal, precise finish that elevate it into to the stratosphere. The 2012 can be enjoyed now, but it will also age for decades.

(84% Semillon/16% Sauvignon Blanc)
Bright, fresh and lifted nose with a touch of white peach and white flower. Huge whack of ripe fruit, great intensity and thick, waxy texture. Nice balance. Pear, papaya, grapefruit, quince, serious complexity and good understatement.

Tasted blind at the Southwold 2012 tasting. The 2012 La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc has a very intense Sauvignon Blanc nose offering gooseberry, kiwi fruit and smoky scents, although it does not seem to possess the complexity of the Malartic-Lagravière Blanc. The palate is balanced with a smooth entry, quite phenolic compared to its peers with a waxy, almost honeyed finish that feels creamy and yet needs to muster more complexity. I suspect this is just entering a dumb phase (just like Laville Haut-Brion had a habit of doing!). Like the Haut-Brion, my mark reflects the fact that this wine has closed down since bottling, but it will warrant a far higher score in line with its barrel showing after 10-15 years. Tasted January 2016.

A racy, bright and lovely version, with nectarine, peach pit, blanched almond and orange blossom notes. The stony finish is long and tightly coiled. A sleek, pure and driven white. Tasted non-blind. —J.M.

[84SM/16SB] Pale Lemon; dumb to smell, no obvious evidence of Sauvignon Blanc at all; elegant, fruit saturated wine, but long and aromatic and lively to taste with a lovely linearity and finesse; long, refined flavour, understated but very fine, and very long to finish; a lissome beauty, top 1er cru burgundy equivalent. Beautiful wine of power, vitality and finesse, and probably close to the particularly fine 2011. 2018-28 [M.Schuster, Bordeaux Mar/Apr 2013]

84% Sémillon, 16% Sauvignon Blanc. Quite sweet on the nose with crème pâtissière. Quite like a grand cru white burgundy in build. Very rich. Sumptuous and only just held on to the tightrope of balance but a superstar. Glorious. Explosive; I would guess lots of alcohol. But massive impact and sufficient corsetry to keep it well balanced. 14.6%. Drink 2017-2027.