1986 Château La Mission Haut-Brion

Community Tasting Notes (134) Avg Score: 92.9 points

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  5/15/2024 - rocknroller wrote: 97 Points

  Heidi's Group: Memorable Wines (St. Genevieve, Mpls, MN): Very dark red color. Slow-O for 3 hours and splash double decanted. Drank a glass plus over 2 hours. This has one of those Wow! noses; the classic LMHB perfume of leather, pencil, violets, cigar ash, damp earth cassis, and truffle. The palate has that featherwight feel to it, its in that sublime place, drifting and gliding across the senses; medium full bodied, leather, cassis, black raspberry, fine grain tannins, silken, pencil, tar, cigar, truffle and damp earth with a long mesmerizing finish.

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  5/15/2024 - chablis28 wrote: 97 Points

  Heidi's Gang monthly @ StG. SS,CV,KB,DD,LI & CS. Thanks for organizing Siggy! Kevin's btl. Well, I was taken by this vintage in a Jan 2017 btl, but even more so tonight. Both, Kevin's Btls, from same source. The robust nose was like sitting in small room with more than one cigar smoker. I've never smoked a cigar or cigarette in my life, but I do dig the cigar ash I often find on great LMHBs like this! For anyone who thinks; "I don't get BDX", wait till you drink one w/ 25+yrs on it. Then you will "get it". Most BDX need 20+ yrs!! This is going strong but also nicely resolved & elegant. Complex layers of; dark fruit, herbs, tobacco, cedar & other harmonics. I have to give Kevin credit for his reliable prep of everything he brings. Sometimes I read notes on CT and wonder, "did you give this the air it deserves?" Prep can make a huge difference in the experience. For me, kind of a tie between this and my '12 J&L Trapet Chambertin tonight. My wife loves salt while I love pepper. Kevin leans BDX & I lean Burgundy but both regions produce amazing wines! Thanks Kevin!

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  12/26/2023 - pepmi wrote: 86 Points

  Father time has caught of with this wine which is now a fading memory of its once glory. Thin was the common descriptor among the tasters.
  We "suffered" through the decanter before opening the second bottle for Christmas dinner.

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  11/22/2023 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Nose of cigar, ashes, cedar and smoke.
  
  The palate is very archetypal of well-born mature Bordeaux. At the heart of this intense juice we have still bright black fruits around which gravitate a powerful aroma of ashes and cigar, it is a wine that could be smoked practically as these aromas are intoxicating. Then the cedar comes to polish this whole. The wine is textured with magnificent grain. Like many 1986s, this LMHB has an austere and robust structure which will make it live for a long time, especially with this perfectly integrated underlying acidity. Magnificent intense, herbaceous finish, with impressive earthy length.
  
  Excellent, a serious Bordeaux which contrasts a bit with the exuberance of 1990 or the dark depth of 1989.

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  10/25/2023 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Quite firm and old-school as I would expect from this vintage but there is also real depth and concentration underneath the wall of somewhat rustic tannins. Quite complex and satisfying if a touch clumsy compared to other surrounding vintages. Potential upside here but this will never match the best vintages of La Miss...

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