The 1979 is one of the few vintages in the seventies in which I find La Mission to be less successful than its neighbor, Chateau Haut-Brion. Nevertheless, in this bountiful year, La Mission made a wonderfully elegant, surprisingly concentrated wine that stylistically resembles the 1971. While it lacks the extraordinary depth and complexity that La Mission is capable of achieving in great years such as 1982 or 1978, the 1979 is still a very fine wine, with a life expectancy of 15 years.

Robert Parker
Bordeaux Book, 3rd Edition- Jan 1998