Professional Reviews
Antonio Galloni
AG
96
"The 2008 La Mission Haut-Brion has an open, feisty, lively bouquet with blackberry, briary, cedar, black olive and a light seaweed (Japanese nori) aroma. This is wonderful, an intoxicating bouquet. The palate is beautifully balanced with a fine bead of acidity, very focused with good weight and structure. This is a very convincing showing, at the moment more pleasurable than the 2008 Haut-Brion, just so fresh and complex, offering a discrete tertiary, smoke-tinged finish that goes on and on. One of the best 2008s out there." -Vinous
Robert Parker
RP
95
"Like a lot of wines in this underrated vintage, the 2008 La Mission was one of the great bargains of recent vintages. Its healthy blue/purple color is followed by aromas of blueberries, black raspberries, licorice, truffles, underbrush and forest floor. The scorched earthy/smoky character of this estate’s terroir has not yet emerged. Medium to full-bodied and concentrated with good acidity, freshness and delineation, this is a big wine for the vintage, but also very classic in its balance of tannin, acidity and extract. It will benefit from another 5-7 years of cellaring and should keep for three decades." -Robert Parker
Jancis Robinson
JR
17
"Heady green, sappy aromas. Blackcurrant fruit and spice too, albeit less obviously than the herbal scent. Then, the palate gives way to more primary fruit, and it is still seems to be in the first flush of youth. Much more development is surely in store. Plenty of tannin to go the distance too."
Decanter
D
94
"Elegant and fresh, with beautiful crushed raspberry fruits - proof that 2008 is a vintage where terroir wins out. This all happens on the retro-olfaction: there you are thinking it's a little under-perfumed for a Mission, but then it kicks back with a smoky swirl through the palate and the aromatics take hold. It's very good, showing savoury black fruits on the finish and the gentlest hint of cigar box and cedar oak."
Wine Enthusiast
WE
95
"Dark and concentrated, this is a powerhouse of flavors and dense tannins. It’s a wonderful combination of velvet texture and dry structure. Layered, complex, wood and spice already showing signs of integration, but certainly set for the long haul."
