Château la Mission Haut-Brion is a Bordeaux wine from the Pessac-Léognan appellation, classed among the Crus Classés in the Graves classification of 1953.

History

Created and developed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by the influential Lestonnac family, Château La Mission Haut-Brion began to achieve wider renown in 1682, when it passed into the hands of the Prêcheurs de la Mission (to whom it owes its current name), the Bordeaux branch of the Congrégation de la Mission de Saint-Lazare, a missionary order commonly known as the Lazarists. 

La Mission Haut Brion continued to change hands until it was finally sold to another American family, the Woltner’s. Frederic Woltner purchased La Mission Haut Brion in 1919. Many people consider this the birth of the modern era for the property. The Woltner family maintained several other interests in the wine trade, as negociants and as vineyard owners in Napa Valley, on Howell Mountain.

The Woltner family remained the owners of La Mission Haut Brion until 1983, when the estate was purchased by Domaine Clarence Dillon, the owner of neighboring, Chateau Haut Brion. Once Clarence Dillon established control, the new owners renovated the entire property starting with replanting the vineyards.

Vineyards

Situated on uniquely stony soil, the vineyard area extends nearly 21 hectares between the two portions in Pessac and Léognan, with a grape variety distribution of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and 7% Cabernet Franc. 

Wines

The estate annually produces on average 6,000 to 7,000 cases of its grand vin La Mission Haut-Brion. For the second wine La Chapelle de la Mission, from the vineyard's youngest vines, there is produced on average 4,000 cases. The white Château La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, previously the wine of Château Laville Haut-Brion, has an annual production of 500 to 700 cases.