La Chapelle de la Mission Haut Brion, Pessac Léognan, 2022
The Clarence Dillon range is splendid this year, especially the Chapelle de La Mission, which is one of the best examples we can recall. Very classical and correct, this 55.9% Merlot, 35.4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7% Cabernet Franc blend opens with notes of violets, cedar, tobacco, blossom, dark cherries and pure hedgerow fruits. Tight grained and compact on the palate with excellent energy, bright acidity and a fine network of tannins laced with cassis, graphite and crushed stones.
critic reviews
Merlot leads here, accounting for more than 55% of the total, the remainder more Cabernet Sauvignon than Cabernet Franc, and the élevage was in 20% new oak. A nose of warm and dried cranberry and dark chocolate, with just a touch of bake to the fruits here, revealing with a short amount of time an infusion of powdered chalk. Supple, almost plump on entry, certainly charming, with blackberry and black plum skins and chocolate, with a modest presence but good grip and acid backbone. A nice grip in the finish, the structure beneath the soft chocolate-coated fruits showing through here, with veins of charcoal, toasted oak and smoke. A touch sappy, and not overladen with structure, I can see this showing well five to ten years from now. The alcohol on the label is 14%.
Rich and luscious bilberry and black cherry fruits on the nose, creamy, touch of liquorice and butterscotch, supple texture to the tannins even at this early stage, balance provided by a sprig of rosemary, burnt fennel, crayon. A highly seductive La Chapelle.
The 2022 La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion has a fruit-driven bouquet with black cherry, blueberry and light pencil box scents. It shows a little more restraint compared to its showing from barrel. The palate is medium-bodied with very pliant tannins, good weight and still with that dab of dark chocolate toward the finish. Give this two or three years in bottle—it's a very giving La Chapelle.
A blend of 55.9% Merlot, 35.4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7% Cabernet Franc, the 2022 La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion offers aromas of dark berries, licorice, graphite, bell pepper and pencil shavings. Its medium to full-bodied, fleshy and nicely balanced with a tense, fresh and penetrating finish.