April 3, 2023 - The 2016 La Mission Haut Brion actually expands rather quickly in the decanter, filling the glass with a boysenberry, plum preserve, hot earth, mineral, ink, and a touch of potpourri. Yet it’s not until the next day that the nose really gives a glimpse into how suave yet impactful this wine will become, adding an interesting hickory smoke element. There's lots of everything on the palate - lots of depth, lots of tannin, good acid to match. The only thing that nags a bit is the alcohol which, despite the scale of the wine, is still slightly felt at 14% and lingers on the finish. Nevertheless, this seems to have the material - and the typicite - to pull it off. Whether it will end up as one of the all time great LMHBs with that hint of heat is a different question, but it’s worthwhile remembering that the standards are very high indeed to end up in the pantheon of the best LMHB vintages. This easily outpaces the 2015, which struggles much more to keep its alcohol in balance.
96-98
July 4, 2022 - Simply stunning. Incredible nose, color, texture, and palate of dark cherry. Velvety tannins, incredible purity of fruit, multi-layers of forest floor, tobacco, and a really long finish. I really can't imagine this wine being better than it is right now. I understand most reviewers advise a nice decant, but we pop and poured this after several great bottles for our 4th of July dinner at mom's, and it was utterly fantastic. Note, my dad preferred this bottle over the 2015 Mouton R. we had right before it, so "there's that." What a night.
March 20, 2022 - Uuuufffffffffff.
Since we enjoyed the Mouton as *technically* an experiment, what the hell- let’s open up our favorite Chateau. The first two hours we were shell shocked. Nothing. In a moment of fear, I nearly shrieked thinking “is this, this CORKED?”.
Alas, like most great wines of this vintage, it just needed some air. After setting a stopwatch, at 5h34m, we had reached the destination. First came the rocks, that intense volcanic, incense laden earthiness that shakes me to my core. I was already in heaven. A sip, and immediately nirvana. This wine was tannic, it was chewy, it was silky, it was heavy cream, it was air, it was the epitome of freshness, it has the sensuality of your wildest dreams but the pragmatism of your achievements. It’s a spring flower garden married to the petrichor and decaying leaves of fall. It has every entire bit of blackberry and blueberry goodness, it possesses the right amounts of coriander and cardamom, but finishes with this murky, viscous almost seepage like finish of bay leaf, rocks, and freshly roasted coffee beans with the tannins of a beast. It’s magical.
This wine is a legend. For those of us who are La Mission fans, you are in for a treat. This wine certainly rivals the 2005 and 2010. Oh how great it feels to be in the company of legendary wines.
March 26, 2020 - Tasted over two days
Magic nose white flowers/incense/smoke
Glowing dark red.
Lots of tannins good acid.
Quite closed, hardly any change over two days.
I remember a tasting of young 1990 bx (abt. age 3 or 4ys) where LMHB (which is wonderful nowadays) was good but not overwhelming, so i think this will be better or perfect in 15-20ys.
November 13, 2019 - Ode to France, les Accabailles and the Crus Classés de Grave (Château Carbonnieux): If the second wine needs five years time, this needs double that in your cellar. This is a powerful wine that comes across more Pauillac than Graves. Already the color is deep purple still like a barrel sample and the nearly 80% new oak tannin is well integrated but present along with the tannin from the blend of 57.5% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon. While Haut Brion manages depth and breadth with sheer elegance, LMHB is more of the former along with extra power.
September 26, 2019 - This massive wall of fruit, rocks, stone, tannin and scorched earth hits you in all the right places. Dense, intense and concentrated, the fruit on the palate and in the nose comes with this fabulous campfire ember note. This is a long term hold. So be prepared to wait for as long as 2 decades for the wine to really show off its greatness. It will be worth the wait if you are either young enough, rich enough, or both!
February 7, 2019 - Très bon mais un ton au dessous du grand patron et peut-être même du Carmes HB, genial cette année
May 12, 2018 - The wall of perfectly ripe, dark, smoky, earthy deep red fruits wrapped in tobacco wrappers is perfectly matched with the massive wall of tannin. The level of tannins is strong, but they are ripe, refined and held in check by the quality of ripe fruits and their velvety textures. The finish holds on for close to 60 seconds!
April 29, 2017 - Deep in color, the smoke, tobacco, dark red fruits, earth, espresso and cigar box aromatics keep you busy. Full bodied, concentrated, the wine takes up a lot of room on your palate. It's long, expansive and is a Cuban cigar dream, provided they also enjoy a big wave of fruit. There is a lot of tannin, but the fruit is so ripe, and sweet, you barely notice it. The wine was made from a blend of 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The harvest took place from September 19 to October 14. The wine reached 13.7% alcohol, with a pH of 3.66. This represents 50% of the harvest.