Wine Advisor
La Mission Haut Brion 1998
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
A limpid garnet core with ruby rim. The nose here is gregarious, ebullient, almost exotic in style with ripe blackberries, black cherries and a hint of black olives. This a glorious bouquet that soars from the glass but after five minutes it has clammed up a little and needs rigorous swirling to revivify. The palate is full-bodied with firm, ripe tannins. It still has the hubris and exoticism that it displayed in its youth but it is more tempered with a decade ageing. Notes of black cherries, bilberry and a touch of black olives towards the finish. Vibrant and intoxicating. Needs more time though. Drink 2012-2040+. Tasted May 2008.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at Christies' Boardroom dinner from an ex-chateau bottle. This must constitute as one of the wines of the vintage, an all-conquering La Mission Haut Brion with a bright future ahead. The nose is utterly sublime with blackberry, black olive and emerging forest floors scents intermingling with a touch of the old Cohiba cigar. The palate is full-bodied with superb concentration and a very fine line of acidity. It is not as exotic as it was four or five years ago, but there remains wonderful tension right to the very last. This is just beginning to move into a more elegant adolescence. Drink now-2040. Tasted November 2013.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This is an outstanding wine, plump, viscous, full-bodied. La Mission's dense saturated purple color is followed by a ripe, expansive, chewy wine with moderately high, ripe, sweet tannin. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2025.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The nose on the La Mission Haut-Brion is more introverted than the Haut-Brion, perhaps slightly earthier but again with wonderful delineation and vigour. That telltale aromas of black olives begins to evolve after a few minutes in the glass, developing a lovely smoothness and cohesion, a sense of -controlled opulence- (a term I seem to employ more and more these days.) After a while, more liquorices aromas begin to join the party, making this a highly mercurial, complex bouquet. The palate is medium-bodied, beautifully balanced with svelte tannins, wonderful harmony with a ripe, almost Burgundian sorbet character discernible on many 2005's. Real frizzante on the finish, great length with lingering black olives towards the finish. Wonderful. Tasted March 2008.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A stupendous effort, the 1998 La Mission-Haut-Brion has put on considerable weight. The high tannin level has become fully integrated with the rich, concentrated structure and style of this effort. This dense opaque purple-colored, powerful, tannic, muscular La Mission demands 7-8 years of cellaring. The wine exhibits plenty of mineral, spice box, and black fruit characteristics in its earthy, classic, Graves-like bouquet, admirable length, an intense mid-palate, and a powerful, concentrated finish. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2025.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Exquisite at en primeur in June 1999. Last tasted at the Mission vertical in March 2006. A similar appearance to the 2000 but with a slightly more pronounced ruby rim. The nose is riper, more opulent and ravishing, without quite the delineation of the 2000. Black olives, blackcurrant and cassis. The palate is similarly more decadent, a little more alcohol. Black cherries, a little plum and an almost citrus finish. Very long and voluptuous, sexy, but without the power of the 2000.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A candidate for the wine of the vintage from this somewhat forgotten year, consumers should be seeking out wines from the Right Bank and Graves as 1998 was a great vintage in those appellations. La Mission’s 1998 exhibits a healthy, opaque blue/purple color with no lightening at the edge. Thirty minutes of aeration brings forth a sensational bouquet of chocolate, cedar, truffles, graphite, blackberries, cassis and incense. La Mission’s so-called scorched earth/charcoal/hot rocks characteristic has not yet appeared. Full-bodied with superb purity, a multilayered texture, sweet tannin, good acidity and a fabulously long finish, this great, young La Mission-Haut-Brion’s finest days are yet to come. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2040.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Complex aromas of scorched earth, minerals, black fruits, lead pencil, and subtle wood accompany this classic, full-bodied, La Mission. It boasts superb purity, an expansive, concentrated mid-palate, and sweet tannin in the long, muscular yet refined finish. This superb La Mission-Haut-Brion, which requires 6-7 years of cellaring, gets my nod as one of the finest La Mission's produced. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2030.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
The 1998 La Mission Haut-Brion is deep garnet-brick colored with a pretty perfume of potpourri, spice box, menthol, sandalwood, tobacco and new leather. The palate is medium-bodied and elegant with tons of fragrant layers, finishing with loads of mineral and tons of energy. Drink up to 2030.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1998 La Mission Haut-Brion is the standout of the Nineties. It shows more purity and exuberance than the 1996, featuring sumptuous scents of black cherries, black olive, freshly rolled tobacco and hints of gravel, all wonderfully defined and quite precocious. The palate is likewise sweet and ripe, offering pliant tannins and layers of blackberry, blood orange, blueberry and tobacco. It tightens up toward the finish, as if to say, I'm in for the long haul. Give it a couple of hours’ decanting, or cellar it for longer if you wish. Tasted at dinner at Chez Bruce.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1998 La Mission Haut Brion has always been a quite brilliant wine and at 20 years of age it continues to cruise at high altitude. Showing little signs of ageing in the glass, it has a very pure and refined bouquet that is perhaps not as precocious as a decade ago. This unfolds beautifully with black cherries, black olive, mineral and a touch of cigar box. The palate is very well balanced with a fine thread of acidity. The 1998 remains very youthful and vigorous with a sweet core of fruit, quite linear towards the finish with great tension. You come away with the feeling it will have more secondary aromas and flavours with another few years of bottle age. Marvelous. Tasted at the château.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Good red-ruby. Superripe, expressive nose of plum, redcurrant, roasted stones and spices. Big, rich, plummy and deep; boasts compelling mouthfilling sweetness. Plenty of spine beneath the flesh. Finishes very long and gripping, with sweet tannins for the year.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Deep ruby-red color. Deeply pitched aromas of roasted stones, raspberry, cherry, plum, licorice and menthol. A step up in sweetness and complexity from the young '99: round and full but shapely and solidly built. Finishes with lush, very fine tannins nicely supported by middle-palate extract.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Bright full ruby. Perfumed aromas of cassis, roasted plum, menthol and chocolate. Sweet, concentrated and seamless in the mouth, with bright acidity leavening the wine's density. Note of graphite. Very long, subtle and primary on the finish, with noble, sweet, tongue-dusting tannins hitting the palate quite late. A bit reminiscent of the 1990.
About the Producer
25 hectares of red grape varieties, including Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, are planted in the traditional vineyard of the winery; the Werner family's vineyard also has 4 hectares of white grape varieties, including Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, used for Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc at different times during the Werner family's reign And the production of the original Chateau Laville Haut-Brion Blanc (Chateau Laville Haut-Brion Blanc). The Werner family's original Chateau La Tour Haut-Brion ceased production after 2005, and the 5 hectares of vineyards it owns are mainly used for the blending of the second red wine of Chateau Meixun. In terms of wine production, the winery will set up screening stations on trucks in the vineyard to screen the manually picked grapes for the first time. Fermentation is then carried out in a stainless steel wine tank equipped with a computer-controlled system that monitors the homogenization and temperature of the wine after measuring the temperature of the pressed grape juice and residue. Clarified with fresh egg whites before bottling, but not filtered.
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