Even allowing for the greatness of Haut-Brion and Mouton-Rothschild the 1955 La Mission is the "wine of the vintage." It possesses a sweet cedary clove smoke and black-raspberry-scented nose and rich full-bodied remarkably harmonious flavors that ooze with ripe fruit glycerin and heady alcohol. The tannin has totally melted away and the wine reveals considerable rust at the edge so it is unlikely that the 1955 will improve with further cellaring. There is no indication of any fragility or decline so this wine can be safely drunk for 10-15 more years. It is an amazing complex superbly well-balanced La Mission-Haut-Brion!

The 1955 La Mission Haut-Brion is simply one of the peaks of twentieth-century Bordeaux. This bottle almost embarrasses the 1955 Cheval Blanc served alongside with its audacious, complex bouquet of mineral-rich red fruit. How can it emit so much energy after almost 70 years? The palate has a symmetry that is utterly beguiling and just makes it all seem so effortless. You want to know what a perfect wine really tastes like? It tastes like the '55 La Mission Haut-Brion. Tasted at the mature Bordeaux dinner at Arbor restaurant, Hong Kong. -- Neal Martin

The 1955 vintage of La Mission Haut-Brion is an absolutely brilliant bottle and I wish I had a box of this great wine in my cellar to help mark important landmarks in life’s unquenchable thirst for forward motion. The utterly brilliant nose soars from the glass in a complex and classic mélange of cassis, dark berries, singed cigar tobacco, a touch of mint, gloriously complex, dark soil tones, a touch of petroleum jelly, hints of lead pencil and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and powerfully built, with an old-fashioned La Mission personality, ripe, but still present tannins, broad shoulders and outstanding complexity and focus on the simply stunning finish. A great, great La Mission that rivals the most magical vintages of this wine I have ever had the pleasure to taste!