(62% cabernet sauvignon, 37% merlot and 1% cabernet franc; 15.1% alcohol) Deep ruby-purple. D eep, refined aromas of blackcurrant, cedar, minerals and wet stone on the reticent, cabernet sauvignon-dominated nose. Then very dense and powerful on the palate, with pristine blackberry, mineral and forest floor flavors and a supple touch that Haut-Brion doesn't yet show. The tannins are amazingly fine and polished, indeed among the noblest of the year, but this otherwise great wine lacks the sheer massive concentration of Haut-Brion. At 10,000 vines per hectare, La Mission almost always has 0.2% or 0.3% more alcohol than Haut-Brion, according to Jean-Philippe Delmas. But the exact measure of La Mission's success in 2010 is that its 15.1% alcohol is not at all obvious.