critic reviews
The 2020 La Mission Haut-Brion has a very pure bouquet with crushed violet infusing the mixture of blueberry and blackberry fruit, scents of cassis emerging with time. The oak is wonderfully integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with a cashmere texture and lavish new oak that is perfectly knitted to the filigree tannins. Very precise and very persistent on the finish, this fans out gloriously, Jean-Philippe Delmas conjured a sensational La Mission this year. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.
The 2020 La Mission Haut-Brion is a brilliant effort that exhibits a level of balance and integration that are impressive in such a powerful young Bordeaux. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries and plums mingled with burning embers, pencil shavings, violets and smoked black tea, it's full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a layered, elegantly muscular profile, its brooding core of fruit framed by a generous endowment of powdery tannin that tempers the ripeness of the vintage. Checking in at 14.7% alcohol, it's nonetheless more classically styled than the more flamboyant 2019 vintage or even the slowly maturing 2010 which I re-tasted alongside for context.
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2020 La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 48.6% Merlot, 43.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8.2% Cabernet Franc, with a pH of 3.85. After a swirl or two, the nose blossoms with an alluring array of black cherries, kirsch, and blackcurrant jelly scents, followed by hints of rose oil, sandalwood, tree bark, and Indian spices. The medium to full-bodied palate is densely laden with muscular black fruits, supported by firm, rounded tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and fragrant.
Grips from the first moment, lashings of damson, cassis, brownie, chocolate shavings, espresso, pencil lead, plum pudding, incense, the is muscular but juicy, totally mouthwatering, real tension and depth, powerful but restrained. Gets better and better the more you go back to it, building in floral notes, lives up to its En Primeur promise. Harvest from 7th to 29th September.