La Chapelle De La Mission Haut Brion 2018 (RP92)

The 2018 La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 40.8% Merlot, 51.6% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7.6% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it comes galloping out of the glass with bold notions of blackcurrant pastilles, stewed black plums and boysenberries, with suggestions of chocolate mint, pencil lead and clove oil, plus a hint of scorched earth. The medium to full-bodied palate is jam-packed with juicy black fruits, nicely offset by lovely freshness and ripe, rounded tannins, finishing long and spicy.Domaine Clarence Dillon pretty much nailed it across the board in 2018, from the first growth(s) in Pessac to the Saint-Emilion wines; to the more humbly priced, larger volume offerings; and even the whites, which were also tricky considering the heat. All the wines are ripe and seductive, true to what 2018 wanted to give as a vintage, and yet they possess bags of bright fruit, energy and freshness. “The first key to success this vintage was to start the first mildew treatment in the vineyards a little bit earlier than usual,” Deputy Managing Director Jean-Philippe Delmas of Domaine Clarence Dillon informed me. “If you did that, you were protected. If you didn’t, you had to constantly run after the disease. The second challenge was the date of the harvest—the date was finally quite late. The best solution was to wait to get ripeness but to pick before there was heaviness or the wines got too fat.”I asked Delmas which he loved more this year, Cabernet or Merlot? “I loved everything,” he promptly replied. “And on the Right Bank, the Cabernet Franc was wonderful this year, which isn’t always the case. I would say Right Bank and Left Bank are the same for quality.” 2023 – 2040