1961 Château La Mission Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan Bordeaux France Wine Tasting Note

Tobacco, smoke, citrus, hot stones, tar, leather, herbs, red berries, and hint of citrus crowd into the nose. On the palate, the wine is even better with its power, intensity, vibrancy, and depth, finishing with bright, red fruits, truffle, tar, smoke, and cedar. Drink from 2024-2045.

57 Views   Tasted Apr 2, 2024

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Heart-stopping in every sense of the word, this is off the hook in every sense of the word from start to finish. The intensity, length, power, and vibrancy, along with complexity, mouth-filling levels of earthy, smoked fruits, and a finish that wants to hang as long as you do is all there in spades. If you have Elon Musk over for dinner and he wants to know what wine to bring, this is the wine to ask for.

Packed with enough tobacco wrapper to start a cigar store, the wine opened with strong tobacco leaf, cigar box, smoke, tar, leather, cedar and red currants. Full-bodied, earth, rich and concentrated, the finish is leafy, and equally, tobacco infused with red fruits. While clearly stunning, this was perhaps slightly less clean than the best examples I have tasted.

Clearly, this belongs in the Wine Hall Of Fame! Beyond perfect, if such a thing exists, the nose, with its smoke, campfire, tar, leather, tobacco leaf, tobacco smoke, cigar box and forest floor nuances all serve to back up the ripe, juicy, cassis notes. Full-bodied, dense, powerful and equally regal and refined in character, the intensity here borders on surreal. The finish crosses over the 60-second mark and keeps on going! At that point I am sure I was heard say, "Please sir, can I have some more?"

If the scale went to 101, I would go there without hesitation for his stunner. This particular bottle was off the charts! There is so much concentration here, in its youth you could have waffled between sipping it or eating all the delicious, spicy, fresh, sweet, pure, smoky fruits. The years have been good here, adding so many complexities and nuances that as soon as you think you have found them all, another wave of fruit and sensations hits your palate and you discover new things in this wine. The finish coats your mouth and palate and stays there for more than 60 seconds. This was simply mind-blowing! It is harder and harder to taste these older gems as they age, are drunk up and perforce become more expensive, I am always surprised and grateful when I get to taste another of these unicorn wines.

Still showing good depth of color, the wine opens with smoke, tobacco, cigar wrapper, mint, cherry, spearmint, cedar wood and cassis scents. Big, potent, concentrated and intense, there is length, volume, complexity and character, with a masculine leaning that you cannot miss.

Once again, the no great wines, only great bottle rules proves itself accurate and true. With a smoke, earth, spice and tobacco filled nose, the wine lacked the fruit, concentration, complexity, length and definition this should deliver. Clearly, this was this specific bottle and not the wine, as I've tasted great examples of this in the past. This was either damaged or fake. Such is life.

1961 La Mission Haut Brion is filled with smoke, cigar box, minerality, leather, tar, ash, blackberry and floral aromas. This mouth filling, rich, suave, polished wine is concentrated with black cherry and spicy, smoke filled blackberries. The wine coats your mouth with intensity and rich, round sensations. This bottle was not at the extraordinary level as the 1961 Haut Brion served the night before. But it's not that far from it either. 97 Pts