Nick Jackson, MW | December 17, 2025
We are delighted to offer a vertical of one of the world's greatest white wines, direct from the château: La Mission Haut-Brion. Although the château is better known for its red, the white is a treasure of the wine world, not only thanks to its rarity (the number of cases made is in the hundreds, not the thousands) but because of its sheer brilliance as a wine.
La Mission Blanc combines zesty citrus fruits and acidity with a creamy texture, enhanced by oak aging, adding a further dimension. This results in dazzling complexity and exotic interest, and the wines continue improving for at least a decade after the vintage; in the best years, much longer.
La Mission is famous for its high proportion of Semillon (usually one-half to two-thirds of the blend), although interestingly, that has been changing in recent warm vintages, where the additional freshness of Sauvignon Blanc (and a little Sauvignon Gris) has been a welcome asset. Such vintages include 2016, 2018 and 2023.
Our vertical covers the period 2011-2022, with six bottles available from each vintage. In addition, we have rare double magnums from 2018 and 2019, and a case of six magnums from the excellent 2020 vintage. Contact us for further advice on specific vintages.
