LA CHAPELLE DE LA MISSION

The 2021 La Chapelle de La Mission Haut-Brion is laced with crushed flowers, sweet red berry fruit, spice and pipe tobacco. La Chappelle is quite floral and delicate in 2021. Its understated personality is quite charming. Bright acids on the finish are a reminder of the cool, rainy growing season. Drinking range: 2024 - 2036 Rating: 90 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2024)

The 2021 La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion has a capable bouquet, that same mélange of red and black fruit, hints of undergrowth and potpourri emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly edgy tannins, a fresh bead of acidity, a light sapidity and a cohesive finish. Enjoy it over the next six to ten years. Drinking range: 2025 - 2036 Rating: 89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2024)

51.3 Merlot, 45.2 Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5 Cabernet Franc | 27% new oak | 13.4% alc. They experienced almost average yields at La Mission and Haut-Brion, despite Jack Frost waggling his icy finger on two plots of vines totalling 3 ha. They coped well with the challenges posed by mildew by acting very swiftly, resulting in plentiful yields by comparison to many other properties of 48hl/ha. The result is a healthy crop that demanded much more selection, and less than 20% of the overall harvest was made into the Grand Vin. Having said this, more ‘second wine’ was made, and this will be an excellent bonus for keen collectors of these styles this year. In the end, ripeness came very slowly, so all of the wines in this portfolio show lower alcohol levels this year. La Chapelle possesses a lovely perfume, and it is unusually gentle and open on the nose. The palate is more tense and sharp-focussed with more strict fruit notes and little excess flesh. The flavour is ‘Cabernet-shaped’ even though a larger proportion of Merlot is used in the blended wine. The finish is not too coarse or tannic, but it is clean and crisp and long, so it will still require a degree of patience before you open a bottle. Rating: 17.5 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Jun 2022)