2022, Chapelle de la Mission Haut Brion, PESSAC-LEOGNAN Rouge

Bordeaux Blend: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc

This is the second wine of La Mission Haut-Brion and it usually contains all the fruit from the Tour Haut Brion vineyard. 2022 is 55.9% merlot, 35.4% cabernet sauvignon and 8.7% cabernet franc.

The 2022 La Chapelle de La Mission Haut Brion is a powerful, dense wine, almost shockingly so. Gravel, spice, leather, menthol and dried flowers give the 2022 tons of aromatic presence to play off a core of dark, red-toned fruit. I don’t recall tasting a Chapelle with this much tannin in recent times, going back to the 2010. Readers will find a wine that delivers immense pleasure though, and tons of character. 91-93 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.

Really fresh and linear with graphite, tar, berry and stone aromas and flavours. Medium and fine on the palate showing no heat or over-maturity. Attractive tannins at the end. 94-95 James Suckling.

Super aromatic and fragrant, dark black berries and perfumed touches with minty freshness and chocolate. Supple and generous, really quite fruity and lively but also quite tannic. A nicely weighted palate with concentrated blackcurrant and strawberry fruitswith freshly picked mint, liquorice spice and clove. You can feel the heat of the vintage in the depth and concentration of the fruit but there’s no overt heaviness and nothing harsh here. Tannins are nicely supportive and fleshy giving some bounce and fun to the palate. Juicy and bright, mouthwatering but cool and crunchy too. Really lovely texture and intensity. Wow, this gives a lot of flavour and punch while keeping the juiciness. 93 Georgina Hindle, Decanter.

Powerful damson colour, with cloves, incense, dried roses, liquorice root, rosemary and waves of raspberry and damson fruit. Firm tannic architecture, silky in texture. One of the lower alcohols in years at these estates, mainly due to some blockages during the growing season, even with small amounts of irrigation of vines between 3 and 7 years old. No leaf removal during growing season, careful soil work, fascinating to see the evolution of this estate as it deals with the changing climate, under the spotlight of being one of the highest profile names in Bordeaux. 92 Jane Anson.

Drinking Window: 2027 - 2042