Château La Mission Haut-Brion

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Detail of a Château la Mission Haut-Brion 1934 label. Note the absence of a named appellation.
Detail of a Château la Mission Haut-Brion 1934 label. Note the absence of a named appellation.

Château la Mission Haut-Brion is a Bordeaux wine from the Pessac-Léognan appellation, classed among the Grand Crus in the Graves classification of 1953. The winery, located in close vicinity of the city of Bordeaux, belongs to the wine region Graves, in the commune of Pessac with additional property in Talence.

The château also produces a second wine from young vines, La Chapelle de la Mission.

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[edit] History

In the early 16th century, the land belonged to the family de Rostaing, of the house of de la Tour d'Esquivens, then called Arrejedhuys, planted with vines before it was passed to the Lestonnac family in 1540.[1] It remained under family ownership until 1654 when it was willed by Madame de Lestonnac to the Pères Lazarists, priests of the Mission of Saint-Vincent de Paul.[2] The priests cultivated grapes for nearly 130 years, until the French Revolution, leaving behind monastic foundations that were expropriated by the state.[3] It was acquired by Martial-Victor Vaillant in November 1792 for 302,000 livres, and for nearly one hundred years it was owned by the Chiapella family.[2][1]

In 1919 it was sold by Victor Coustau to Fréderic Otto Woltner.[2][1] Woltner's sons, Fernand and Henri, considered innovators of viticulture, restructured the vineyards to yield better grapes. Henri Woltner who became manager of the estate in 1921, in addition to being credited as having pioneered the use of glass lined tanks in the vinification process in 1926,[2] came to be known as a "wine-maker genius".[4]

For many years considered the chief challenger to its historically more significant close neighbour Château Haut-Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion sold wines at high prices, but this was considered justified as they "produced some remarkable bottles".[3] The prolific Woltners ran operations at the neighbouring Château La Tour Haut-Brion for the widow Marie Coustau since her husband's death in 1923, who upon her death in 1933 left the chateau to the Woltner family in her will,[5] and in 1931 the Woltners had acquired the nearby Château Laville Haut-Brion where they produced a dry white wine considered one of the best in Graves.[4]

After the death of Henri Woltner in 1974 and his brother shortly after, the estate was run by Françoise Woltner and Francis DeWavrin, daughter and son-in-law of Fernand Woltner.[2] Though standards were maintained, family discord led to the sale of the estate along with La Tour Haut-Brion and Laville Haut-Brion in 1983,[2] to the Domaine Clarence Dillon, owners of Château Haut-Brion since 1935[6] while the DeWavrins moved on to run Chateau Woltner in Howell Mountain AVA.[7] In absence of local competition in recent years, the Dillon family has upheld the original terroir between their estates, and La Mission has remained distinctive.

American wine critic Robert Parker awarded the maximum one hundred Parker points for the 2006 La Mission Haut Brion,[8] making it six occasions Parker has given the winery this score.[9] The wine critic David Peppercorn (MW) holds the estate's consistent performance over the last century as justification to classify La Mission as a Premier Cru, as was done to Château Mouton Rothschild in 1973.[2][10]

[edit] Production

Situated on uniquely stony soil,[2] the vineyard area amasses nearly 21 hectares between the two portions in Pessac and Leognan, with the grape varieties of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and 7% Cabernet Franc.[1]

The estate produces on average 8,000 cases a year, or 96,000 bottles of its Grand vin La Mission Haut-Brion. For the second wine La Chapelle de la Mission, from the vineyard's youngest vines, there is produced on average 1,000 cases, or 12,000 bottles.[1]

[edit] Sources

Footnotes
  1. ^ a b c d e Kissack, Chris, thewinedoctor.com. Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Peppercorn, David (2003). Bordeaux. London: Mitchell Beazley, p.337-341. ISBN 1-84000-927-6. 
  3. ^ a b Lichine, Alexis (1967). Alexis Lichine's Encyclopedia of Wines and Spirits. London: Cassell & Company Ltd., p.314. 
  4. ^ a b Johnson, Hugh (1971). The World Atlas of Wine. London: Mitchell Beazley Ltd., p.86. ISBN 0-85533-002-3. 
  5. ^ belgiumwinewatchers.com Château La Mission Haut-Brion
  6. ^ Barnes, Laura, Caterer (January 1, 2007). Premier Chateau. itp.net.
  7. ^ Epicurious Wine Dictionary. Chateau Woltner.
  8. ^ Le Journal du Vin (May, 21, 2007). Château La Mission Haut-Brion (French).
  9. ^ theis-vine.dk Chateau Haut Brion (Danish)
  10. ^ Peppercorn, David (2003). Bordeaux. London: Mitchell Beazley, p.50. ISBN 1-84000-927-6. 

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