chateau la mission haut brion cru classe pessac leognan

Château La Mission Haut Brion, Cru Classé, Pessac Léognan, 2003

Name: Château La Mission Haut Brion, Cru Classé, Pessac Léognan
Brand: Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Price: 2207.47 GBP

90/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

delivery

in bond

Broking

2003
12x75cl
DP
£2,207.47

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

La Mission has switched roles with Haut-Brion this year, being the more reticent of the two wines in the primeur tasting. There is considerable restraint in the aromatic profile of this wine, a subtle mineral complexity, hinting at something really quite special. The palate begins and ends with big firm tannins, and there is good fruit concentration between, but you get the sensation of a work in progress, with far more to come in the second year in barrel. Very impressive, one to watch. Harvested from 25th August to 15th September; a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc.

delivery information

GUARANTEED PROVENANCE

Provenance in fine wine

When it comes to purchasing wine, provenance is of upmost importance. A wine’s history – where it’s sourced from and how it’s been stored – can have an enormous influence on the eventual enjoyment it provides. At Justerini & Brooks, we can trace nearly every case back to the domaine, estate or Château it originally came from; we ship from over 200 wine producers throughout the world.

Wines not bought directly from the vineyard are either sourced from trusted suppliers, with whom we share the same philosophy and rigour in buying, or from our own network of Cellarers customers. These customers’ wines are stored in optimal conditions in Octavian Corsham and, in the vast majority of cases, have been stored by us since the wine was first shipped. We do not purchase wine from auctions.

We feel it is equally important to for our customers that the case they buy and leave in storage with us is exactly the same case they subsequently have delivered. This may sound obvious and straightforward, yet we are one of very few merchants to have taken measures to ensure this.

We have created a system where every case is independent, thereby ensuring a trail of ownership and peace of mind for every customer.

The Journey

Justerinis ensures that every case of wine stored with Cellarers (Wines) Ltd has a unique identifier and customer’s name, almost unheard of in the industry as it is expensive to administer. These details are printed and placed on every case which is logged and recorded under your account name and kept in the world’s most renowned storage facility, Octavian Corsham.

This information is sent from our systems to the warehouse every day to ensure the trail of ownership is verified and upheld.

While customer reserves are stored in Corsham, our physical stocks are kept in Hoddesdon, further providing a geographical separation between customers’ wines with Cellarers and Justerinis’ own stock.

Further Reassurance

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is a legally separate limited company from Justerini & Brooks which currently holds approximately £450 million worth of customer reserves. It is fully insured to catastrophic loss. Many merchants will state that wine in their care is fully insured, but in reality this is on an individual case basis with insufficient cover for total loss as this is prohibitively expensive. The cover provided by Octavian and Justerini & Brooks is unmatched.

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is audited by PwC every year.

Critic Reviews

90/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

The 2003 La Mission Haut-Brion is one of the few examples of this infamous vintage that has improved in bottle, though it’s still far from a first- or even second-tier La Mission. My most recent bottle displays all the tropes of that hot summer: black cherries, fig, singed leather and cooked meats. It does not have the delineation of the best vintages. The palate is reasonably well balanced with sweet black fruit, still displaying those fennel and garrigue notes. The finish is opulent yet slightly monotone. Tasted at a private dinner in Bordeaux.

drinking window 2021 - 2030

date of review 09/2021

product details

Specifications

Country:

France

Region:

Bordeaux

Appellation:

Pessac Léognan

Producer:

Château La Mission Haut-Brion

style:

Red Wine

Grape Variety:

Cab Sauvignon Merlot

abv:

13%

allergen information

This product may contain sulphites. Full allergen information is available upon request, please call our Customer Relations Team on +44 (0)20 7484 6430.