Monday, February 18, 2008

2002 La Mission Haut Brion

Despite inclement weather in Bordeaux in 2002, the sunny harvest saved the vintage according to many chateau owners. Although the 2002 wines were not given much love in the press, there are some good bottles out there and they won’t cost you quite as much as more recent vintages!

Winemonkey and I tasted some 2002s in the past that we deemed quite tasty including Pichon Lalande and Clerc Milon from Pauillac. Cabernet fared better than Merlot overall and wines from Graves/Pessac are by all accounts particularly good bets. The 2002 La Mission Haut Brion proves that theory correct.

We tasted a half bottle of the 2002 La Mission Haut Brion recently and the wine was lovely overall. It is definitely ready to drink now so enjoy it while you are waiting for other slow to mature Bordeaux vintages. The wine is smooth and well-balanced with red and blue berry fruits and good minerality. It may not be as full and layered as in other vintages but it is nonetheless very enjoyable and has some depth. A full bottle will run you $80 - $100 but with 2005 futures coming in at over $1,000 a bottle this seems like a pretty good deal.

3 comments:

  1. Hello,

    Wow the '02 is $80-100 and the '05 futures are $1000? Is that correct? Sounds incredible that they could raise the prices so much in such a short period, it is good wine but...
    I love your blog names!

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  2. The 2005 is going for $1,600 a bottle at Zachys to give you an idea. Crazy, right?!

    ReplyDelete
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