Tasting Notes
Vinous 95
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.
Robert Parker 94+
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.
Anticipated maturity: 2022-2045
