1989 La Mission Haut Brion

The 1989 La Mission Haut-Brion can surpass even Haut-Brion these days, but on this occasion, juxtaposed against its sibling, it must accept a silver medal. That's not to infer it is nothing less than a brilliant Pessac. Taking time to open, it has an elevated bouquet with blackberry, wild strawberry, white pepper and a hint of licorice. The palate is powerful and dense, not as precise or as pixelated as the finest examples, yet fans out with joie-de-vivre on the finish and a tang of black olive on the aftertaste. Awesome. Tasted at Woo Cheong Tea House.

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-Bernard Delmas's greatest achievement. Tasted at the La Mission Haut Brion dinner at Amuse Bouche in Hong Kong.