OMG. This is really so Bordeaux with incredible semillon character. Lemon skin, pears, apples and hints of stone and wood. It’s so primary and just like eating perfectly ripe grapes. Full-bodied yet polished and compact. Endless finish. Ethereal. Energetic acidity. Best to drink this in four or five years and beyond, but worth opening a bottle now to understand its greatness.

It takes no time at all to be reeled in here, starting with the nose. Crushed rocks, lemon verbena, flowers, pears, green apples, pears and tangerine rind pack the perfume. As good as the nose is, the palate is equal to the task of keeping you focused with its 60 second plus blast of sweet, juicy, rich, creamy, fresh, vibrant, energetic waves of fruits. This is clearly in contention for one of the best vintages of La Mission Haut Brion Blanc ever produced! Made from a blend of 55% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Semillon, picking took place September 3, finishing September 10. 14.1% ABV. Drink from 2023-2060.

Austere, thrilling, still a little closed, more upright than I might have expected when you compare to how finessed and open the Mission red is at this point. Instead this is coiled, serious, with a curl of gunsmoke, citrus and white tea. Expands through the palate to show clear volume, and stretches out slowly but surely, totally delicious salinity with its oyster shell finish. Diam closure since 2017.

A bigger, richer white, especially in the context of the vintage, the 2021 Château La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc offers up a medium to full-bodied, vibrant, concentrated style as well as classic notes of honeyed melon, crushed stone, white flowers, and dried herbs. I love its mid-palate depth, and it has beautifully integrated acidity and outstanding length. It's another serious, age-worthy white in 2021 that will benefit from short-term bottle age and be long-lived.

(96+ points) The 2021 La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc has a nuanced, understated bouquet with yellow plum, Anjou pear and hints of honeysuckle—very low key and tightly knit, yet very well-defined. The palate is beautifully balanced with a tangy entry and a citric bead of acidity, revealing orange rind and kaki fruit toward the finish that is full of tension. This is neck and neck with the Haut-Brion Blanc at the moment, yet may surpass it in the long-run. -- Neal Martin

White chocolate, satsuma, lemon peel, peach and white flowers on the nose. So much intensity on the palate but in the purity of detail so you get the expansive flavour, succulent lemon and orange, zest grapefruit, crisp apple and delicate creamy patisserie elements all underpinned by a salinity and crushed stone texture. It's focused but so expansive as well, chiseled and detailed. A great combination where you get so much flavour in such delicate and defined packaging. Really very delicious and moreish.

La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc 2021 leaps from the glass with notes of fresh grapefruit, white peaches, and honeysuckle, leading to touches of elderflower and sea spray. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound, with vibrant stone fruit and zesty flavors, supported by a crisp backbone, finishing long and steely. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

(94+ points) A fresh, incipiently complex bouquet of pear, grapefruit, freshly baked bread and wet stones prefaces the 2021 La Mission Haut-Brion, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy wine with a satiny attack that segues into a taut, structured mid-palate built around chalky dry extract, which lend this a more tightly-knit, mordant profile than the broader, fatter and more enveloping Haut-Brion Blanc. - Yohan Castaing