Wine Advisor
La Mission Haut Brion 2005
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2005 La Mission Haut-Brion is pure perfection. It has an absolutely extraordinary nose of sweet blackberries, cassis and spring flowers with some underlying minerality, a full-bodied mouthfeel, gorgeously velvety tannins (which is unusual in this vintage) and a long, textured, multi-layered finish that must last 50+ seconds. This is a fabulous wine and a great effort from this hallowed terroir. Drink this modern-day legend over the next 30+ years. Only 5,500 cases were produced of this blend of 69% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
A limpid garnet core, much more opaque than I recall it. The 2005 has just a fabulous nose with pure cedar, blackberry, a touch of black plum, violets and black olives. Brilliant delineation and lift. It has lovely focus and elegance on the palate, a slight bitterness that just gives this wine so much vibrancy and vivacity. Tension – fabulous tension here that leaves the palate all a-tingle. Superb focus with blackberry, a hint of tobacco and cedar. Quite masculine on the finish compared to its barrel showing. Magnificent. Drink 2012-2040+ . Tasted May 2008.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2005 La Mission-Haut-Brion is even more impressive this year than it was in 2006. There are approximately 5,500 cases of this blend of 69% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 1% Cabernet Franc. Jean-Philippe Delmas told me that for the first time in this vineyard’s history, the entire vineyard was seriously crop-thinned. The result is a wine that is reminiscent of the 1989, but with more structure, muscle, and tannin. However, the tannin is sweet – a good sign in a wine with such extraordinary power and richness. Scorched earth, blueberries, blackberries, and a hint of truffles appear in the staggering aromatics. The wine is massive in the mouth, with incredible fat and richness as well as mouth-searing levels of velvety tannin in the finish. Even though the fruit is wonderfully ripe and the texture is unctuous, this stunning offering will not be drinkable for 6-7 years, and should keep for 25 years thereafter.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at Farr Vintner's La Mission dinner. The 2005 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion is a stellar wine that is not for my generation but the next (and I ain't that old). It has a very expressive bouquet, the Merlot exceptionally animated and vibrant, manifesting scents of dark plum, blackcurrant, hints of leather and warm gravel lurking just behind. Returning to my glass after a couple of hours the bouquet is even more complex with lovely mint and juniper berries joining the chorus line. The palate is structured, as is typical of the 2005s, with a fine line of acidity, layers of black fruit, mint and tobacco. It fans out wonderfully on the finish. Stunning - but it deserves another decade in the cellar. Drink 2022-2060. Tasted November 2013.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Again, a deep limpid purple colour, virtually opaque. The nose is very sweet and charming, with black cherries, olives, iodine and violets. More feminine than usual. With aeration it really starts to bloom. Touch of liquorice developing, blueberries. A very concentrated La Mission, very tannic, nigh on perfect acidity and a vice-like grip on the palate (even more than Haut-Brion.) Does not quite have the weight on the finish like Haut-Brion, a little more linear perhaps, but still an excellent La Mission that will demand a couple of decades ageing (as usual). Tasted April 2006.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Another massive effort, the inky/purple-colored 2005 La Mission-Haut-Brion is broodingly backward and foreboding. The aromatic profile offers hints of charcoal, freshly laid hot tar, truffles, graphite and black fruits. Full-bodied, powerful, tannic and almost painfully extracted and concentrated with tremendous structure, good acidity and a massive finish, this infant wine is largely unchanged since I first tasted it from bottle. If everything comes together in 10-15 years, this brilliant 2005 should merit a triple digit score. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050+.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The deep ruby/purple-hued 2005 La Mission-Haut-Brion is the finest offering from this estate since the 2000, a vintage it resembles in power, muscle, and structure. A gorgeous perfume of creosote, blueberries, and black fruits is followed by powerful, full-bodied flavors with great purity as well as remarkable freshness. Already revealing a certain unctuosity and thickness, it should continue to put on weight and develop magnificently for 25-30+ years. La Mission’s staff believes it is more similar to the 1990 than 2000, but it is too early for me to agree or disagree. Nevertheless, this is a profound La Mission-Haut-Brion. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2030+.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
There are slightly more than 5,000 cases of the 2005 La Mission-Haut-Brion, a blend of 69% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and a touch of Cabernet Franc. While there is little difference between La Mission and Haut-Brion’s terroirs (their vineyards are only separated by a two-lane road), La Mission possesses more fat, texture, and intensity. An enormously endowed wine with huge tannin and structure, the 2005 offers a quintessential Graves bouquet of burning embers, charcoal, blackberries, truffles, black currants, and a meaty character. Reminiscent of the 1989, with more structure as well as a longer window of drinkability, the 2005 may be a modern day, improved version of a vintage such as 1955, which was well-endowed, very tannic, and took a long time to come around. While fabulously full-bodied and unctuous, the 2005 will not provide much charm in its youth. It needs 8-10 years of cellaring, and should age effortlessly for 30-40 years. The rivalry between the two great Pessac-Leognan estates of Haut-Brion and La Mission-Haut-Brion continues despite the fact that since 1983, both wines have been made by the same winemaking team. Jean-Bernard Delmas has moved fifty miles north to Montrose, but his son, Jean-Philippe, has produced both wines following the 2003 vintage. La Mission is obviously made in a different style than Haut-Brion. It will never have as much nuance and nobility aromatically. It does possess more muscle, concentration, and opulence than Haut-Brion, but both offer prodigious styles of wine.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The Château La Mission Haut-Brion 2005 has a really quite fabulous bouquet with powerful, very well defined blackberry, cedar, tobacco, fig and menthol scents that jostle for attention. The palate is medium-bodied with fine and supple tannin. This is becoming quite a savoury La Mission with savoury elements infusing the red and black fruit, touches of sage and juniper flourishing on the finish that is so refined you could actually drink hits now. This is a quite brilliant La Mission Haut-Brion that will cruise at a rarefied height.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted single blind at Southwold. A deep limpid garnet core. This has a very deep, concentrated nose with blackberry, plum, black olive, smoke with a touch of graphite. Brilliant definition and with aeration: a faint touch of damson. The palate is full-bodied with immense concentration, layers and layers of black fruits, cedar, graphite, a touch of spice. Incredible precision and the tannic, muscular finish goes on and on. Close to perfection. Drink 2012-2040. Tasted January 2009.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2005 La Mission Haut-Brion is powerful and unyielding. Aeration brings out the aromatics and fruit, but La Miss does not have the charm of most other wines on this night. I have had better bottles. So it goes.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2005 La Mission Haut-Brion is unquestionably one of the wines of the vintage. Effusive aromatics and bright, red-toned fruit make a strong first impression. A wine of vertical intensity and explosive energy, the 2005 is a towering masterpiece. Today it is just at the beginning of a long drinking window that will last another few decades. Red cherry, plum, leather, spice, gravel, smoke, blood orange and pomegranate infuse the palate staining finish. In 2005, La Mission is a wine that satisfies all the senses, from the intellectual to the hedonistic. Magnificent. Tasted two times.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2005 La Mission Haut-Brion is a wine that I have had the pleasure of tasting on several occasions. The most recent bottle, included in a 2005 horizontal, puts it in a very favorable light even against strong competition. The bouquet bursts from the glass with intense blackberry, cedar and tobacco scents, plus background aromas of fig and damson, as you would expect from a warm summer. The palate is structured, yet the Merlot content (at 69%, the highest in many years) renders this Pessac-Léognan much more pliant than others from this vintage. A mélange of red and black fruits vie for attention, followed by warm gravel and black olives. Quite rich and yet not grippy; with decanting, you could broach this now, though personally I would prefer to leave it for several more years. Outstanding.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
($1; 700) Deep ruby-red. Black raspberry and licorice on the nose. Dense and sweet but youthfully tight; a serious young wine with terrific verve and the acid/tannin backbone to support a long and glorious evolution in bottle. Very long on the back end, with mouth-saturating fruit and tannins. Like La Chapelle-and in direct contrast to Bahans and Haut-Brion-this is quite backward today, and almost certain to merit a higher rating in the future.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Deep red-ruby. Expressive, very ripe, slightly high-toned aromas of black raspberry, blueberry, licorice and tar. Large-scaled and impressively deep, conveying an impression of serious, sappy extract. This is explosively creamy and deep, with a strong spicy character lifting the flavors of black cherry, smoke and tobacco. Finishes with huge, broad tannins and palate-saturating persistence. Much easier to taste today than it was last spring following an extended malolactic fermentation.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(69% merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon and 1% cabernet franc) Full ruby. Very primary aromas of black fruits and menthol. Explosive on entry, then sweeter in the middle palate than the nose suggests, no doubt due in part to the high merlot percentage. Comes across today as less dense than Haut-Brion but with a compelling silky sweetness and a tangy balance of sugars and acids. With time in the glass, notes of blueberry and scorched earth emerged. Finishes with firm tannins and terrific lift. In 2005, this wine actually has a lower IPT than Haut-Brion (73, vs. 76), while in vintage 2003 La Mission was higher (77, vs. 72).
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.
1982(2)1985(2)1986(2)1987(1)1989(6)1990(4)1991(1)1992(1)1994(2)1995(5)1996(4)1998(11)1999(5)2000(14)2001(12)2002(5)2003(4)2004(11)
Package Size
1 x 6L
