1971 Château La Mission Haut-Brion

The 1971 La Mission Haut-Brion punches above expectations, given my limited experience with previous bottles. Fresh and vibrant on the nose with tobacco and cedar, there is just more vigour than I have encountered elsewhere, delivering elegance and transparency. The palate is beautifully-balanced with classic Graves notes of tobacco, Earl Grey and red fruit. The finish is poised and delineated, not persistent yet it keeps beckoning you back for the next sip. Perhaps there is a great deal of bottle variation with this particular vintage?

I have tasted the 1971 La Mission Haut-Brion two or three times, from both bottle and magnum, and it is a decent wine for the vintage, though that year’s La Tour Haut-Brion is better. This has a rather fusty bouquet, light compared to coeval vintages, featuring sous-bois , cedar and tobacco scents. The palate is reserved initially but opens with aeration, offering rather dry tannins, decent black fruit and just a touch of dryness on the cohesive finish. My main complaint? It’s just a bit unexciting.

The 1971 was never one of my favorite La Missions, but it was very good in its first 15-20 years of life. At present, it has some life remaining as it displays more charm and sweetness than the 1970, and it is not plagued by volatile acidity or excessive acidity. However, the garnet color reveals considerable amber at the edge, the fruit is fading badly, and the wine exhibits notes of scorched charcoal intermixed with a volcanic earthiness, red currants, fresh mushrooms and old oak. This medium-bodied effort fades at the back of the palate, and should have been drunk up by 1990.