Tasting Notes
Vinous 96
The 2000 La Mission Haut-Brion is consistent with my most recent note, although I must admit that I felt there was a touch more brett on the nose than the previous example. Black cherries and iodine to the fore, with some undergrowth and Provençal herbs, it is very complex. The palate is medium-bodied, well balanced and still peppery with a saline finish. Excellent, but I’m going to detract a point for that brett. Tasted at the château.
Anticipated maturity: 2023-2052
JancisRobinson.com 17.5
Thick and slightly bitter. Dense. Lacks a bit of freshness. Stolid.
Anticipated maturity: 2016-2030
Robert Parker 100
One of the wines of the vintage, the 2000 has barely budged in its evolution since it was bottled and released in 2002. After ten years in bottle, it still reveals a dense opaque purple color along with a potentially sensational bouquet of blueberries, black currants, graphite, asphalt and background oak. Extremely powerful, full-bodied and superbly concentrated with good acidity and high but round tannins, this massive La Mission-Haut-Brion should take its place among this estate’s most hallowed vintages when it hits full maturity in another one to two decades. I was surprised by just how youthful this wine tasted at age 12. If tasted blind, I would have guessed it to be around 4 to 5 years old. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050.
Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050
