Château Haut Brion, 1er Cru Classé, Pessac Léognan, 2016

As is often the way, Haut Brion requires a leap of faith. The terroir is almost identical to that of Mission, but whereas its stablemate is sumptuous and transparent, Haut Brion is introverted, a closed book. History tells us that a metamorphosis takes place between barrel and bottle. At the moment this is all coiled power. With aeration there are notes of kirsch, tayberry, white stones and flowers, but by comparison to the extroverted Mission, this is positively mute. The fruit is darker on the palate, deep sweet cassis and mulberry interspersed with crushed rocks. At this stage, Haut Brion is showing more reserve and lacks the vibrancy and luxurious fruit of La Mission, but in ten or twenty or thirty years' time when this comes out of hibernation, we expect it to turn the tables... The Grand Vin accounts for 50% of the production and is made from 56% Merlot, 6.5% Cabernet Franc and 37.5% Cabernet Sauvignon.