1987 La Mission Haut Brion
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Tasting notes
The 1987 La Mission Haut-Brion could be described as a decent stab at a challenging growing season. It features tobacco-infused, earthy black fruit on the nose and seems to have lost the dried blood tincture I observed when I last tasted it in 2008. The palate is medium-bodied and cohesive, yet rather light and missing the complexity of a great La Mission. There’s nice piquancy on the finish, though. This fades in the glass, so pop and pour. Tasted from a bottle from my personal cellar.
Critic scores
Average Score
Wine Spectator
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
Second bottle. Pretty brown tinge. Really super mature but charming on both nose and palate with an almost Burgundian sweetness – chaptalisation effect? Whatever the cause, there is pleasure to be had. Delicate but well balanced. But decant immediately before serving! (JR)
Delicious, but at the end of its plateau of maturity, the 1987 La Mission gave me considerable pleasure in a lighter style that is a reference point for just how seductive, perfumed., and interesting an off-year vintage of Bordeaux can be. The wine has always been supple, with plenty of smoky black fruits intermixed with a whiff of herbs and tobacco. The wine has still retained that fragrance, but in the mouth the finish is becoming increasingly attenuated. Nevertheless, I suspect magnums and larger formats of this wine could provide drinking that could possibly even hit a 90-point score from a pristinely stored large format. Anticipated maturity: Drink up. Last tasted, 9/02.
A pleasant claret now, but better in '92. Should develop quickly. Medium ruby color. grassy, earthy, oyster shell aromas. medium-bodied, with rich, earthy, slightly strong grassy flavors and a medium finish.--La Mission-Haut-Brion vertical. James Suckling, Wine Spectator 1991
About the producer
Ch. la Mission Haut-Brion – sister estate of Ch. Haut-Brion and part of the Clarence Dillon stable – is one of the greatest estates in all of Bordeaux. Based in Pessac-Léognan but not officially classified, it produces outstanding red and white wines.