Dark but not opaque. Dry, fragrant, powdery and penetrating: sweet fruits, but defined with great restraint and classicism to give a dappled, unshowy aromatic profile at present.

Still relatively deeply colour, with a dusty blackcurrant nose. Pure, intense, fresh and flavoury; smooth-textured already.

Mid red-black in colour. Elegant, sweet, chiffon scents of great charm, though the wine hasn't yet gathered focus, definition or the diagnostic Haut Brion subtlety.

Still deep in colour. Unusual and untypical aromas of cooked cherry; strangely sweet. Thick tannins, rich and earthy, almost skulking; lacks the classic La Mission poise and finesse.

Mid-depth of colour, and a cool, controlled and rather terse aromatic profile. Elegant, restrained flavours but the thread of warmth is missing.

Deep in colour, with an aroma of fine La Mission classicism: delicately fleshy, incense-wreathed. On the palate, vivid, light, fresh and ripe; gracefully balanced and open.

Dark purple-black in colour; fresh, almost voluptuous fruits, mingling the red and the black most attractively.

Good depth of colour, but surprisingly open aromatically: warm coffee. Mid-depth on the palate; attractive middle-palate flavours, with perfumed warmth; touch astringent at the end.

The first wine in the line-up which I felt was immature and unformed: liquorice, wood, quiet blackcurrant, creamy … yet you know that with its La Mission genes time will form and fashion the compone

A touch deeper in colour than the 1996, but not by a lot.