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1955 began with unstable weather conditions just before summer, but turned into an extremely favourable season by the end of the year. A beautiful, sunny and warm—if not hot—period prevailed throughout August and September, until the just the right amount of much-needed rain came along. The crop turned out to be of the highest quality. However, because the vintage was overshadowed by the 1953, it offering wines with a good price-quality ratio that can still be enjoyed today. Ripe grapes and autumn rain guaranteed an excellent year for Sauternes wines. The wines of this vintage vary widely in quality, and many are dominated by tannins. Only the finest wines, such as the Lafleur, Cheval Blanc and Mouton-Rothschild, offer balance and richness.
Wine Description
The Story
Château Mouton Rothschild A Premier Cru Classé in 1973, Château Mouton Rothschild, owned by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, consists of 205 acres of vines near Pauillac, in the Médoc, North West of the city of Bordeaux. This Premier Cru benefits from exceptionally good natural conditions, both in the quality of the soil, the position of its vines and their exposure to the sun. It is regarded today as one of the world's greatest wine.
The name Mouton is said to be derived from the word „Motte“ meaning mound or elevation of the ground. It was bought in 1853 by Philippe de Rothschilds great-grand father it was in a fairly bad shape and when the classification of 1855 was set up it was not deemed to be good enough to be qualified as a first growth but put in first place amongst the second growths. An injustice it took Philippe de Rothschild until 1973 to rectify. 1920s Philippe de Rothschild called together the owners of Haut Brion, Latour, Lafite, Margaux and Yquem to talk about the idea of bottling and marketing their wines on their own.
The first vintage to be bottled exclusivly at the château was the 1924 vintage. To commemorate this, the cubistic painter Carlu was asked to design the label, yet another revolutionary idea in this most conservative of surroundings. The idea of an artist designing the labels was dropped until 1945 when Philippe Jullian was asked to design a label commemorating the victory over nazi Germany. Since then works of such famous artists as Picasso, Miró, Dali, Chagall and personalities like John Huston and Prince Charles have been used for the labels.
In 1988, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who had already been associated with her father's work for some time, succeeded her father. She has in turn become the guarantor of the quality of an illustrious wine whose motto proudly proclaims : "Premier je suis, second je fus, Mouton ne change". First I am, second I was, I Mouton do not change
Vineyard soil: very deep gravel on a limestone base Production area: 82.5 ha Grape varieties: 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot Average age of vines: 48 years Harvest method: hand picked. The grapes from the younger vines are harvested first and vinified separately.
Winemaking: Before destemming, the grapes are hand-sorted then selected one by one. Vinification depends on each vintage and the characteristics of each vat. All the relevant parameters, such as temperature, pumping over, aeration, vatting time and running off, are monitored by the technical manager, the cellar-master and the laboratory.
Ageing: 19 to 22 months in oak barrels (almost all new, the percentage varying according to the vintage)
Wine Information
Georges Braque (1882–1963) was without a doubt one of the most important artists of the 20th century. He was the first artist of outstanding international reputation to design a label for Mouton Rothschild. As a painter, he worked with a wide variety of materials. He also worked in this free, open style on his woodcuts, copperplates, etchings and lithographs. As one of the first artists, he worked with sand, newspaper clippings or other findings that he combined into very colourful paintings and collages. The artist concentrated on a limited number of motifs, which he condensed constantly. With his congenial friend Pablo Picasso, he created the foundation of Cubism. They broke all rules of perspective, showed their motifs from several angles at the same time and reduced complex figures to simple geometric forms.
For the label of the Mouton, however, Braque chose an almost minimalist scene, in a clear interpretation that could not have described the subject of wine more precisely or in a more literate manner: a table with grapes and a half filled glass of wine.
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Changeable weather in the first half of the year: a wet January, mild February, frosty March and cold May. Clement weather brought out the blossoms. In the hot month of June, it rained occasionally. In July and August recorded there was no precipitation at all, meaning the rain in September was more than welcome.
Vintage 1955
In Bordeaux, 1955 began with unstable weather conditions just before summer, but turned into an extremely favorable season by the end of the year. A glorious, sunny and warm, if not hot, period prevailed throughout August and September, until the right amount of much-needed rain arrived. The harvest turned out to be of the highest quality. However, because the vintage was overshadowed by the 1953, it offers value-for-money wines that can still be enjoyed today. Ripe grapes and autumn rains guaranteed an excellent year for Sauternes wines. Wines from this vintage vary greatly in quality, and many are dominated by tannins. Only the best wines, such as Lafleur, Cheval Blanc and Mouton-Rothschild, offer balance and richness.
Recommended glass shape
Average Bottle Price
| 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2010 | 2005 | 2000 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 549€ +8.1% | 1 433€ +61.0% | 890€ -9.0% | 978€ -19.7% | 1 218€ +84.5% | 660€ +159.8% | 254€ +35.1% | 188€ |
This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.