2022 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion, Blanc, Pessac-Leognan

So much oyster shell here with a chalk, stone character, as well as dried lemons and sliced white peaches and pears. It’s medium to full body with lovely fruit and a flavorful finish. Bitter lemon as well. 72% semillon and 28% sauvignon blanc.

This is an extremely impressive white that has high levels of Sémillon in the blend this year, helped by old vines that resisted the heat well. Gorgeous construction and balance, with precision-cut citrus, bitter almond, slate, dill, white pepper spice, a juicy grip through the palate and noble bitterness bringing things to a close. Less 1st wine than last year - 20% less first wine with the same yield; 41% new oak barrels for ageing. Harvest August 17 to 23.

The 2022 Château La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc is mostly Sémillon (72%), and compared to its big brother, the Haut-Brion Blanc, it's more closed and inward, with classic Sémillon power and richness. Ripe melon, white flowers, honeyed minerality, and chalky notes all define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a great mid-palate and outstanding length. It's a downright mineral bomb on the finish and is a brilliant white in the making.

The 2022 La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc contains much more Sémillon (72%) this year due to its quality according to Jean-Philippe Delmas. It has a perfumed bouquet with white peach, honeysuckle, red apple and light candle wax. Superb delineation. The palate is taut and linear, chalky in texture with good tension. It shows quite impressive weight, perhaps more than the Haut-Brion Blanc with a dab of ginger enlivening the finish. Superb.

Perhaps it's because of the drought-affected vintage, or it could be due to the fantastic terroir of La Mission Haut-Brion, but in any case, the 2022 La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc is especially aromatically expressive, bursting with lively aromas of pear, linen, smoke, gunflint, lemon and spring flowers. Medium to full-bodied, crystalline and pure, it's tensile and seamless, with impressively vibrant acids and a saline finish.

The 2022 La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc is incredibly tightly wound, especially for the year and considering its heavy Semillon tilt in the blend. It will be interesting to see where this goes. There’s tremendous depth here and also a phenolic-like feel that is impossible to escape. My impression is that there is a lot of wine here, but it needs time to come together.