In the 1855 classification of the Medoc, one wine that was not from the Medoc but rather Pessac was also admitted; Haut -Brion. Its Pessac neighbour La Mission Haut-Brion was not granted a similar special admission. Yet if any wine from Pessac also deserves first growth status, it is La Mission Haut-Brion.

In 1540, the Bordeaux merchant Arnaud de Lestonnac did two notable things. One was buy the plot of land in Pessac that would form the basis of La Mission Haut-Brion. The other was marry Marie, the sister of Jean de Pontac, who had recently become the owner of the neighbouring estate, Haut-Brion. Pessac’s two greatest properties have run on parallel tracks ever since. But while Haut-Brion was always to remain in private hands, in the 1660s, the future La Mission was bequeathed to the Catholic Church. It came to house a mission of Lazarite Friars, so acquiring the name La Mission. It was repossessed during the Revolution and sold at auction. It changed hands several times thereafter until in 1983 it was bought by the Dillon family, finally coming under the same ownership as Haut-Brion itself. It has resided there seamlessly ever since.

The 30-hectare vineyard of La Mission Haut-Brion is planted to 45.8 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 43.8 percent Merlot and 10.4 percent Cabernet Franc. It sits between two streams, the Ars and the Peugue, which provide moisture in hot, dry years and possibly explain a slightly softer character in La Mission as against Haut-Brion. The vineyard lies across two ridges of hills with deep beds of gravel overlaid over clay, sand, chalk and limestone. The terroir is very similar to Haut-Brion, but with slightly less gravel and a little more sand and limestone. The planting density of the vines is higher than at Haut-Brion.

And just as at Haut-Brion, there is also, of couse, a great white wine. There are 3.7 hectares of vines (61.7 percent Semillon, 38.3 percent Sauvignon Blanc) reserved for La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc. The wine is fermented in new Allier oak barrels. There is no malolactic fermentation and almost never any lees stirring. It is aged in fifty percent new oak. (NT 04/09/23)