La Mission is rated the greatest Graves wine after its neighbor across the road, Ch Haut-brion. Both properties have been owned by Domaine Clarence Dillon S.A. since 1983. Year after year La Mission and Haut-Brion vie for the nose and palate of connoisseurs, and often La Mission is the winner. This year might be one in which you would agree with a number of experts that La Mission is the superior wine, but it surely was a close-run race.

The La Mission vineyards are made up of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlor and 7% Cabernet France…they lie on a gravel bank laced with clay that is up to 18 meters thick at some points. The wines are fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel vats then transferred to 100% new oak barrels for 18 months. The wines are termed “rich, oaky and powerful,” and need, say the experts, 10 years of bottle ageing before opening.