Bordeaux Theme
Live Virtual Auction, 26 March 2023
Bordeaux Fine Wine
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
About this Item
Château la Mission Haut-Brion is a Bordeaux wine from the Pessac-Léognan appellation, classed among the Crus Classés in the Graves classification of 1953. With a long history of winemaking, La Mission Haut-Brion has consistently performed as a wine and garnered the respect of many international wine critics. Jancis Robinson MW describes La Mission as "the quintessential insider's wine". Situated on uniquely stony soil, the vineyard is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a small amount of Cabernet Franc; the grand vin and second wine, La Chapelle de la Mission, are made from these. In 2009, the white wine previously made under the label of Château Laville Haut-Brion was added to the main La Mission Haut-Brion stable, and its annual production is between 500 and 700 cases.
Both La Mission-Haut-Brion and Haut-Brion hit home runs in this vintage, which did not produce as many profound wines as the Bordeaux publicity machine suggested. 1989, the 200th anniversary of the French revolution, was an incredibly hot year (surpassed only by 1990 and 2003).
Provenance
The Coats Family Cellar is arguably the most prestigious fine wine collection ever offered in South Africa. It contains a deep collection of the worlds finest, most sought-after wines, spanning over 150 years. Collected over many decades, the cellar was imported from Ireland to South Africa via reefer. Each bottle within the Coats Family Cellar was authenticated by Michael Egan in August 2022 and given an ID number for tracking.
Michael Egan is a world-expert in fine and rare wines with more than thirty five years of experience. He was the principal expert for the plaintiff in the two major wine counterfeiting trials in Koch v. Eric Greenberg and United States v. Rudy Kurniawan, both of which occurred in 2013.
Along with Michael Egan, the Strauss & Co Fine Wine team have tasted extensively through the cellar and are confident of the wine storage and hence quality. The entire collection is currently stored at Wine Cellar.
Critics Ratings
'Lively and rich. Dense blackcurrant and savoury. Much livelier than the 1990. Mainly Cabernet Sauvignon. Fresh and sinewy.' - Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, 18.5/20 (Nov 2013)
'It still possesses a blue/purple color with only a hint of garnet creeping in, and the explosive aromatics offer up notes of licorice, creme de cassis, blueberry liqueur, smoky barbecue meats, truffles and graphite. If that’s not enough to get one salivating, the palate has never disappointed either. Full-bodied with extraordinary opulence as well as sweet, well-integrated, velvety tannins, this fresh, lively, blockbuster La Mission appears to be one of those rare wines that never goes through a closed, unfriendly stage. It has been a compelling, multidimensional effort from barrel, in its infancy, and as it heads into late adolescence. A remarkable tour de force in winemaking, it is one of the all-time profound La Mission-Haut-Brions. Anticipated maturity: now-2050.' - Robert Parker Jr, Wine Advocate, 100/100 (Aug 2012)
'The 1989 La Mission Haut-Brion is hands-down the greatest of this era, and if one takes consistency into account, it is slipping past the 1989 Haut-Brion. Deep in color with only faint bricking on the rim, it has a breathtaking bouquet of intense blackberry, black truffle, black olive and incense. It is the precision that elevates this above almost everything else. The palate is full-bodied yet paradoxically weightless, offering multidimensional flavors of blackberry, raspberry, white pepper and clove. Then there is the underlying mineralité that chisels this into such a formidable Pessac-Léognan, fanning out beautifully on the elegant finish. This might well be Jean-Barnard Delmas's greatest achievement.' - Neal Martin, Vinous, 100/100 (Dec 2018)
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