Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, Pessac-Leognan, France 2017 Ballard Canyon 350 meters in altitude

350 meters in altitude

licorice and pencil lead plus a waft of garrigue

Le Rosé is just stunning in this tasting

Josep and Joan d'Anguera craft this old vine Garnacha from vineyards that have been planted in Montsant since the 1820s

jasmine and a hint of dusty minerals on the seductively perfumed nose

Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, Pessac-Leognan, France 2017 Ballard Canyon 350 meters in altitudeFor me this is the wine of the vintage. Both of the whites in the Haut Brion stable are exceptionally well sculpted and finessed, but this has the aromatic edge. It has a powerful, intense concentration of flavours, hemmed in by slate walls that make you slow down and inch your way through the palate and I am more than happy to go as slow as possible. The cool nights over the summer have been very kind to these grapes; they are in full control, with