Château La Mission Haut-Brion 2021

Floral and green fruit aromas on the nose. Juicy and upfront, lively and fun, this has zing and focus. I love the almost sherbet lemon touch to the initial expression followed by soft green fruit and some softly spiced herbal accents. It’s clear and clean, bright and focussed. Tapers a little towards the finish, just lightening, but lovely and enjoyable - very aerial in style.

OMG. This is really so Bordeaux with incredible Semillon character. Lemon skin, pears, apples and hints of stone and wood. It’s so primary and just like eating perfectly ripe grapes. Full-bodied yet polished and compact. Endless finish. Ethereal. Energetic acidity. Best to drink this in four or five years and beyond, but worth opening a bottle now to understand its greatness.

With a pronounced floral bouquet, the wine continues expanding on the nose with notes of lemons, Granny Smith apples, lemon curd, sea salt, honeysuckle, tropical fruits, and pears. Rich, crisp, sweet, fresh, and mouth-filling, this is a sublime wine that will evolve and develop for decades. Drink from 2026-2050.

Light golden yellow with silver hues. Delicate green apple and white peach, a hint of grapefruit zest—a somewhat shy bouquet. Medium complexity, green-apple fruit, very racy and lemony with a saline touch on the finish. Light on its feet, shows finesse.

A bigger, richer white, especially in the context of the vintage, the 2021 Château La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc offers up a medium to full-bodied, vibrant, concentrated style as well as classic notes of honeyed melon, crushed stone, white flowers, and dried herbs. I love its mid-palate depth, and it has beautifully integrated acidity and outstanding length. It's another serious, age-worthy white in 2021 that will benefit from short-term bottle age and be long-lived.

(55.2% Sémillon, 44.8% Sauvignon Blanc, 14.1% abv) Silky, fresh, finely fruity bouquet—grapefruit, mint leaves, honeydew melon, vanilla. Creamy, full palate with powerful, sweet fruit, good acidity, fresh aromatics, elegant structure, long, fresh finish. 18/20 2026 - 2050

Austere, thrilling, still a little closed, more upright than I might have expected when you compare to how finessed and open the Mission red is at this point. Instead this is coiled, serious, with a curl of gunsmoke, citrus and white tea. Expands through the palate to show clear volume, and stretches out slowly but surely, totally delicious salinity with its oyster shell finish. Diam closure since 2017.

La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc 2021 leaps from the glass with notes of fresh grapefruit, white peaches, and honeysuckle, leading to touches of elderflower and sea spray. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound, with vibrant stone fruit and zesty flavors, supported by a crisp backbone, finishing long and steely.

The bouquet of yellow fruits, with notes of orange blossom and freshly baked madeleines, evokes a shimmering, milky light. Concentrated and complex on the palate, constantly evolving, this is a serious white wine designed to deliver pleasure as well as to stand the test of time.

Mission’s bouquet shows tropical nuances, citrus, and notes of green almonds. Salinity is a key element of this wine, both on the attack and the finish. So much energy, juiciness, density, and tension on the back palate. A wine that does a tremendous job of restoring 2021’s reputation, reminding us that nothing is absolute and that every vintage deserves to be examined from every angle.

Pale colour with green highlights. An intense, refined, fruity and subtle nose. Smooth on entry, very aromatic through the mid-palate with a rich, velvety feel; the wine glides across the palate and finishes long and noble, with a beautiful texture.

Yeast and apple aromas are lifted by the wine's acidity and a citrus shot. It is still young, its apple flavors and touches of wood giving shape to this impressive wine. Drink from 2026.