The 2008 La Mission Haut-Brion has an open, feisty, lively bouquet with blackberry, briary, cedar, black olive and a light seaweed (Japanese nori) aroma. This is wonderful, an intoxicating bouquet. The palate is beautifully balanced with a fine bead of acidity, very focused with good weight and structure. This is a very convincing showing, at the moment more pleasurable than the 2008 Haut-Brion, just so fresh and complex, offering a discrete tertiary, smoke-tinged finish that goes on and on. One of the best 2008s out there. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting.) -- Neal Martin

A beautiful, high-class effort that offers incredible pleasure, the 2008 La Mission Haut Brion is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc brought up in a mix of new and used barrels. Ripe black cherries, sweet currants, cigar tobacco, and exotic spices all emerge from this medium to full-bodied effort that has beautiful concentration, sweet tannins, and again, a pleasure-bent, even sexy character that’s a joy to drink. It’s capable of lasting another 30 years or more.

Like a lot of wines in this underrated vintage the 2008 La Mission was one of the great bargains of recent vintages. Its healthy blue/purple color is followed by aromas of blueberries black raspberries licorice truffles underbrush and forest floor. The scorched earthy/smoky character of this estate's terroir has not yet emerged. Medium to full-bodied and concentrated with good acidity freshness and delineation this is a big wine for the vintage but also very classic in its balance of tannin acidity and extract. It will benefit from another 5-7 years of cellaring and should keep for three decades. The final blend was 51% Cabernet Sauvignon 43% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc.

Dark and concentrated this is a powerhouse of flavors and dense tannins. It's a wonderful combination of velvet texture and dry structure. Layered complex wood and spice already showing signs of integration but certainly set for the long haul.- R.V.

Elegant and fresh, with beautiful crushed raspberry fruits - proof that 2008 is a vintage where terroir wins out. This all happens on the retro-olfaction: there you are thinking it's a little under-perfumed for a Mission, but then it kicks back with a smoky swirl through the palate and the aromatics take hold. It's very good, showing savoury black fruits on the finish and the gentlest hint of cigar box and cedar oak. Drinking Window 2020 - 2036 Read more at https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/france/bordeaux/chateau-la-mission-haut-brion-pessac-leognan-grand-cru-18364#ZFfvYsk8FgyI3p8v.99

Powerful, youthful, tannic, fresh and even a but crisp, the wine is full bodied, offering tobacco, cigar wrapper, tobacco and dark. deep, red fruits. There is a firm, almost strict nature to the tannins. There is the structure to age, which is a good thing, as this wine is going to need time before it all comes together. The wine is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2008&wine=Chateau%20La%20Mission%20Haut-Brion

Fascinating aromas of crushed berry plums sweet tobacco and stones. Full bodied with chewy and velvety tannins and a long long finish. This is very structured and rich with a bright and tangy acidity. Needs time to come together obviously. Try after 2015.