Château La Mission Haut-Brion, 2025
Château La Mission Haut-Brion, 2025
- 75cl
- 13.5%
- Red Still
- Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
Please note, en primeur wines are not available for delivery until they arrive in the UK
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Est. delivery in 2028
La Mission Haut-Brion from Pessac-Léognan is one of Bordeaux's most compelling properties. The Dillon family has stewarded this estate since 1983, crafting wines that rival their illustrious neighbour Haut-Brion while maintaining their own distinctive character.
The 26-hectare vineyard sits on the famous Günz gravel ridges of Pessac-Léognan, with deep gravel deposits over clay and limestone subsoils. The elevated position provides excellent drainage while the gravel stones retain heat, creating ideal ripening conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon. The terroir's unique combination of warm gravel soils and cool maritime influences from the Gironde produces wines with exceptional concentration and remarkable longevity. This geological complexity contributes directly to the wine's signature mineral backbone and age-worthy structure.
Pessac-Léognan was established as a separate appellation in 1987, carved out from the broader Graves region to recognise its superior terroir. The appellation encompasses all of Bordeaux's classified Graves estates, including both red and white wine production on gravel-based soils closer to Bordeaux city. Unlike the Médoc's focus purely on red wines, Pessac-Léognan permits both colours, though the reds like La Mission achieve the greatest acclaim. The appellation's proximity to the Atlantic provides a moderating maritime influence that extends the growing season and enhances aromatic complexity.
The 2025 Bordeaux vintage emerged from one of the most demanding growing seasons in recent memory — the earliest budbreak since 1989, June temperatures second only to 2003 since records began, and an unusually early harvest beginning in August for the whites. Conditions that should have produced heavy, overripe wines. They didn't. Decanter's Georgie Hindle, who tasted close to 200 wines ahead of the formal campaign, describes "exceptional concentration, aromatic purity and a freshness that contradicts the record-breaking heat.
The early critical consensus places 2025 stylistically between the precision of 2020 and the structure of 2016, with the brightness of 2023 — a combination that suggests a very serious vintage indeed. Yields are dramatically low, the smallest crop since 1991, with production across the Gironde running around 15% below the five-year average. The quality is here. There simply isn't very much of it.
What the critics say:
"The 2025 La Mission Haut-Brion is one of my early favorites in this vintage. Aromatic and vibrant, with striking purity, the Grand Vin is magnificent. Red-toned fruit, blood orange, pomegranate, mint and cinnamon soar from the glass. Beams of supporting tannin lend energy and shape. In a word: compelling. One of the wines of the vintage."
"A blend of 58.3% Merlot, 38.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3.4% Cabernet Franc, the 2025 La Mission Haut-Brion reveals a refined bouquet of smoky cassis, dark berries, spices and lead pencil, framed by a deft touch of new oak. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and layered, it’s built around a multidimensional core of fruit underpinned by fine, velvety tannins, concluding with a long, perfumed and precise finish. Combining depth with energy, it delivers a textural yet controlled expression of power, with a real sense of freshness. The result is a particularly faithful, charming rendition of La Mission, defined by its elegance and overall precision."
"Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate edge brightening. Fine precious wood nuances, some undergrowth, floral touch, dark berry fruit, cherries and plums. Complex, juicy, dark fruit, ripe, finely spiced tannins, mineral, good freshness, subtle extract sweetness, salty finish, shows length and ageing potential."
"Burning campfire embers, smoke, flowers, black cherries, blackberries, and licorice are on display in the aromatics. Texturally, you find a creamy-freshness that hits all the right notes. Concentrated, long, deep, and voluptuous, the wine is almost palate staining in its delivery, coating your palate, yet, somehow it remains energetic, and vibrant. Packed with ripe, powerful fruits, the finish builds as it lingers, and expands seamlessly on your palate. For La Mission Haut Brion, this should start drinking well with just 5-7 years of age, yet, it promises to age for decades. The wine blends 58.3% Merlot, 38.3% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3.4% Cabernet Franc, 13.6% ABV, 3.73 pH. Harvesting took place, September 1-September 18. Yields were low at 23 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2030-2075."
OUR GROWERS
Château La Mission
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