Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion 2016 1.5L Magnum

Chateau La Mission Haut Brion is one of Bordeaux's greatest wines, revered for its extraordinary power, elegance, and longevity. Aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry, graphite, cedar, cigar box, violet, and exotic spice unfold into a concentrated palate with velvety tannins, exceptional depth, and a remarkably persistent finish.

Food Pairing: Pair with beef Wellington, roast lamb, venison, duck breast, truffle dishes, or aged Comte for an unforgettable Bordeaux experience.

98 Points - Decanter

This is a wonderful wine. It’s absolutely precise, finely wrought and gorgeously balanced between richness and elegance, with notes of damson, black cherry, slate and rosemary. Silky soft tannins highlight the concentration of the fruit and the grilled oak notes that are La Mission’s signature, with a fresh core that stretches out the palate. A low pH gives tension through the palate and is highly seductive. No Cabernet Franc this year.

98 Points - Jeb Dunnuck

The 2016 Château La Mission Haut-Brion checks in as a Merlot-heavy blend, 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. About as pure and seamless (yet sexy) as they come in the vintage, it offers awesome notes of dried flowers, sweet currants, cedarwood, forest floor and exotic spices. With a flawless texture, medium- to full-bodied richness and ultra-fine tannins, this beauty builds incrementally on the palate with terrific mid-palate depth and a stunning finish. It’s sexier and more charming compared to the more backward Haut-Brion, yet I suspect it will age just as long.

98 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2016 Château La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple in color, it is just a little muted to begin, soon unfurling to reveal slowly growing scents of crushed blackcurrants, black cherries, dark chocolate and candied violets with nuances of crushed rocks, tobacco leaf, forest floor and fragrant earth, plus a hint of bergamot. Medium-bodied and exquisitely elegant, the palate offers perfectly ripe, fine-grained tannins and tons of freshness with layer upon layer of perfumed fruit and a very long, ferrous-laced finish.

97 Points - James Suckling

Regal wine, showing alluringly ripe and dark plums that carry a wealth of complexity in their DNA—fine spices, leaves, graphite, violets and more. The palate has very precise drive and a super-focused style, delivering authoritative tannins arranged in linear fashion. Power with elegance. Try from 2024.

97 Points - Wine Spectator

This is super vivid, offering cassis, blackberry, raspberry and blueberry compote flavors that bristle with energy while a mouthwatering frame of anise and apple wood adds electric energy. This is borderline rambunctious, but it's bridled well enough, and when the fruit and wood sides mesh fully, this will be a rock star. Best from 2025 through 2040.

96 Points - Wine Enthusiast

As so often with this estate, this is a generous, opulent wine. This year a strong tannic element gives the wine a good structure. Smoky, textured and powerful, it needs many years to mature. Do not drink this wine before 2026.