12 bottles per lot
細節
Château La Mission-Haut-Brion
Back in the 70s, there was a restaurant down by the station in Bordeaux that had a wine-list bursting with old vintages of La Mission at quite reasonable prices. I'm not sure it didn't actually belong to the enterprising Francis Dewavrin, nephew of then owner Henri Woltner. That is where I first got to know the character this bulky, strong and sometimes abrasive wine that was totally the opposite of the elegance and finesse of Haut-Brion and I found it wonderful. But in those days, it was not readily available for distribution, so it wasn't until Haut-Brion bought the estate in 1983 that I had commercial access to it and could start tasting there regularly en primeur and beginning to hear first-hand the reasons for this different style of wine : the soil is of coarser gravel to the Haut-Brion vineyard, the vats were larger (180 ho) and the harvest was always planned late and the macerations were longer and stronger ; if the truth be told, there was also, as in many of the great wines of the time, a visible hint of volatile which is always a vector for the stronger aromas of any wine.
Of the wines offerred today, the '85 and the '86 were made in the more cramped space of the old cellar and, just like at Latour in the same two vintages when Bordeaux was producing very high yields, the wines maybe didn't have time during fermentation to develop big central concentration. Still, they are both impressive wines, generous and strong-flavoured, just a bit reserved and clearly made in the old style. The '88 on the other hand, the first vintage of the new cellar, was so concentrated and tannic and so fiery that I had to go back later in the year to perceive the underlying warmth of fruit and spicy La Mission flavours. The wine has not come my way recently but I can't imagine it has lost any of its gritty and savoury character : Jean-Philippe Delmas, Prince Robert of Luxembourg's estate manager, thought several years ago that it would be good until 2030, the same drinking window as the remarkable '89, a true monument of raw power and juicy strength that so impressed the 100-pointer critics. The wines of the 90s are clearly made from totally riper grapes than before, adding plushness to the strength of flavour and tannin and gradually even some finesse too. The creation of the second wine La Chapelle was of help in this respect, lapping up the produce of the younger vines ; it would help also in 2006 by incorporating a lot of the produce of the discontinued La Tour Haut-Brion. However, it was always never their intention to abandon La Mission's gutsiness, just to tweak it into a more modern style. The difficult years of the early 90s were amazingly successful here, providing depth and meaty richness in such generally light vintages, all very soft in texture with the possible exception of the tougher '94. For the rest of the decade, the wines showed a marked return to the uncompromisingly rigid (in their youth) and strongly flavoured style, the '95 to this day enormously thick and tannic, the '96 a touch simpler in its more Merlot character, the '97 of medium weight but nicely rounded : several restaurants in Bordeaux served it in the 2000s as one of the only La Missions to be accessible so early. The '98 was always the most backward and probably will not be entirely ready for many years. Then the '00 is a veritable monument of density and strong tannins and will need to be left alone for even longer.
Château La Mission-Haut-Brion 1985
Pessac (Graves), cru classé
In original wooden case. Slightly corroded capsules. Good appearance. Levels: into-neck
12 bottles per lot
Back in the 70s, there was a restaurant down by the station in Bordeaux that had a wine-list bursting with old vintages of La Mission at quite reasonable prices. I'm not sure it didn't actually belong to the enterprising Francis Dewavrin, nephew of then owner Henri Woltner. That is where I first got to know the character this bulky, strong and sometimes abrasive wine that was totally the opposite of the elegance and finesse of Haut-Brion and I found it wonderful. But in those days, it was not readily available for distribution, so it wasn't until Haut-Brion bought the estate in 1983 that I had commercial access to it and could start tasting there regularly en primeur and beginning to hear first-hand the reasons for this different style of wine : the soil is of coarser gravel to the Haut-Brion vineyard, the vats were larger (180 ho) and the harvest was always planned late and the macerations were longer and stronger ; if the truth be told, there was also, as in many of the great wines of the time, a visible hint of volatile which is always a vector for the stronger aromas of any wine.
Of the wines offerred today, the '85 and the '86 were made in the more cramped space of the old cellar and, just like at Latour in the same two vintages when Bordeaux was producing very high yields, the wines maybe didn't have time during fermentation to develop big central concentration. Still, they are both impressive wines, generous and strong-flavoured, just a bit reserved and clearly made in the old style. The '88 on the other hand, the first vintage of the new cellar, was so concentrated and tannic and so fiery that I had to go back later in the year to perceive the underlying warmth of fruit and spicy La Mission flavours. The wine has not come my way recently but I can't imagine it has lost any of its gritty and savoury character : Jean-Philippe Delmas, Prince Robert of Luxembourg's estate manager, thought several years ago that it would be good until 2030, the same drinking window as the remarkable '89, a true monument of raw power and juicy strength that so impressed the 100-pointer critics. The wines of the 90s are clearly made from totally riper grapes than before, adding plushness to the strength of flavour and tannin and gradually even some finesse too. The creation of the second wine La Chapelle was of help in this respect, lapping up the produce of the younger vines ; it would help also in 2006 by incorporating a lot of the produce of the discontinued La Tour Haut-Brion. However, it was always never their intention to abandon La Mission's gutsiness, just to tweak it into a more modern style. The difficult years of the early 90s were amazingly successful here, providing depth and meaty richness in such generally light vintages, all very soft in texture with the possible exception of the tougher '94. For the rest of the decade, the wines showed a marked return to the uncompromisingly rigid (in their youth) and strongly flavoured style, the '95 to this day enormously thick and tannic, the '96 a touch simpler in its more Merlot character, the '97 of medium weight but nicely rounded : several restaurants in Bordeaux served it in the 2000s as one of the only La Missions to be accessible so early. The '98 was always the most backward and probably will not be entirely ready for many years. Then the '00 is a veritable monument of density and strong tannins and will need to be left alone for even longer.
Château La Mission-Haut-Brion 1985
Pessac (Graves), cru classé
In original wooden case. Slightly corroded capsules. Good appearance. Levels: into-neck
12 bottles per lot
注意事項
On lots marked with an + in the catalogue, VAT will be charged at 7.7% on both the premium as well as the hammer price.
榮譽呈獻
Edwin Vos