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  • Country ranking ?

    240
  • Producer ranking ?

    14
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Pork Tenderloin

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99 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 Tasted 7 Times With Consistent Notes One of the greatest 1961s, La Mission-Haut-Brion has been fabulous to drink for the last 5-10 years. Where well-stored, this wine will continue to drink well for 10-20 years. More developed and drinkable than the 1959, it remains a thick, rich, super-aromatic wine with a textbook Graves bouquet of tobacco, barbecued meats, minerals, spices, and sweet red and black...

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The Story

La Mission Haut Brion is situated in Bordeaux' southern suburb, Talence. From 1919 and until 1983, it was Woltner family, who had owned this property. Under Woltner's reign, La Mission Haut Brion experienced one of its greatest period with string of fine vintages and was considered then as fully on the level with First Growths and sometimes even better than these. In 1983, owners of Haut Brion purchased La Mission Haut Brion and today its Jean...

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Wine Information

Château La Mission Haut-Brion 1961

Château La Mission Haut-Brion’s tasting notes :

This is a wine of a rare perfection. In spite of its 30 years, it tastes very young. A great wine, rich but very elegant. Truffle, game, heavy fragrances are the distinctive marks of this elegant full wine.
A unique bottle. Suave but complex, an
exceptional harmony make this wine difficult to describe. An impression of harmony and fullness on the palate ...

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Vintage 1961

1961 - the greatest Bordeaux vintage of all time?

I am writing this during the primeur campaign and I notice that Bordeaux château owners and merchants have been exceptionally quiet this year. I've been following this part of the market remotely for almost 30 years now and have been told about a lot of the "vintages of the century". Once wines are bottled and sold or vice versa, as is the case in Bordeaux, these claims tend to be changed.

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Tasting note

color

Medium, Brick red and Bright

ending

Long, Lingering and Smooth

flavors

Tobacco, Blackberry, Blackcurrant, Licorice, Voluptuous and Leather

nose

Intense, Complex, Charming and Ripe

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Medium tannin, Complex, Balanced, Concentrated, Youthful, Full-bodied, Elegant, Firm, Rich and Drying tannins

Verdict

Excellent and Transparent

Written Notes

A bottle of 1961 La Mission Haut Brion usually is a length ahead of the Haut Brion, but this bottle couldn’t keep pace with the magnum.  There was classic band-aid and charcoal, but it softened in the glass sooner than I wanted, but it was still outstanding with decent richness and long acidity that gained back (96).

  • 96p

At Château La Mission Haut-Brion a short period of intense cold at the end of May caused "exceptional coulure" (the lack of pollicization due to wet or cold weather). A hot summer, but above all very dry (the driest on record). A very fine September yielded a harvest with good maturity and concentration. Harvesting began on September 12th and ended on September 25th. 
Pre-auction tasting at Christie's. Low neck level, otherwise like new. Decanted for one hour before tasting. Good, dark, maturing colour. Very wide, rich and intense nose with ripe fruit, tobacco and some oak aromas. Full-bodied and tannic. Big, thick, complex wine with great balance and very long and soft, seductive aftertaste. Serious wine and one of the many much beloved 1961s. Tasted numerous times with similar notes.

  • 97p

Fabulous aromas of mocha, chestnut and tobacco. Thick, rich, broad and voluptuous, with powerful extract contributing to an impression of great grip. A wine of compelling sweetness. Strong but smooth tannins spread out to coat the entire palate. Late note of saddle leather. This, too, is still developing. Drink now through 2020.

  • 94p
Close to 1955 La Mission in terms of style and quality, but without same intensity on the nose and palate. There was however no doubt, that this wine was sublime and of extremely high quality. Will last for another 5-7 years in the cellar.
  • 96p
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Information

Origin

Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Average

Fake factory

There is a possibility

Glass time

2h
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