Lot 365
CHÂTEAU LA MISSION HAUT-BRION 1990 (2) WA 96
CHÂTEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD 1995 (1) WS 96 WA 95
Lot 365 Details
CHÂTEAU LA MISSION HAUT-BRION 1990 (2)
Pessac-Léognan. Grand Cru Classé
u. 2 x bn. 2 x marked labels. 2 x scuffed capsules.
The 1990 La Mission Haut Brion is a wine that just gives so much pleasure that it seems almost immoral to criticize. For sure, it is not in the same league as the awe-inspiring 1989, yet it has such an engaging, quintessential La Mission bouquet full of warm gravel, chestnut, morels and bay leaf scents that you just fall instantly under its charms. It seems to just grow in the glass. The palate is beautifully balanced with great depth but is still a little grainy in texture, and I noticed how it evolved almost a Musigny-like personality with time in the glass. I suggested back in 2014 that it might improve with continued bottle age. Perhaps now I believe that it has reached the top of its plateau, yet the substance and the persistence—the energy—of this Pessac-Léognan suggests that it will give 20 years of drinking pleasure. No, it's not as good as the 1989 La Mission Haut Brion, then again, few wines are. Tasted May 2017. WA 96
CHÂTEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD 1995 (1)
Pauillac. 1er Cru Classé
marked label.
The 1995 Lafite-Rothschild (only one-third of the harvest made it into the final blend) is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 8% Cabernet Franc. The wine was showing spectacularly well when I tasted it in November, 1997. It exhibits a dark ruby purple color, and a sweet, powdered mineral, smoky, weedy cassis-scented nose. Beautiful sweetness of fruit is present in this medium-bodied, tightly-knit, but gloriously pure, well-delineated Lafite. February 1998 WS 96 WA 95
Realised: $2,472