x
  • Country ranking ?

    1 015
  • Producer ranking ?

    40
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2035
  • Food Pairing

    Duck Breast & Lentil and Parsnip Salad

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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1953 was the first top vintage of the 1950s. The year ended up to be an excellent one, even though the heavy rains of September threatened to destroy a good year. The hot, dry summer was crowned by a perfect August. The mercury rose above 30°C on more than half of the days in August. Fortunately, the rains that came in mid-September made way for ideal harvest conditions at the beginning of October. The finest wines of this vintage are united by their elegance, delicacy and temperance. They should ideally be decanted for two hours before drinking. The vintage received praise particularly in Médoc, which produced the best wines of the entire vintage. One of the most highly renowned of these is the Château Lafite-Rothschild. Many consider it to be best Lafite-Rothschild of the entire 20th century. Although Graves and Sauternes also produced some top wines, Pomerol and Saint-Émilion today offer so many outstanding creatures, with the crème de la crème being the Cheval Blanc and Lafleur.

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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)
 

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Wine Information

1953 – Année du Centenaire / Mouton Rothschild – 100 years of Family Ownership
The 1953 label breaks with the tradition of a design by a contemporary artist, showing instead the portrait of his great-grandfather, Baron Nathaniel, the man who purchased Mouton. On 11 May 1853, Nathaniel de Rothschild signed the bill of sale for the winery Château Brane-Mouton, which he immediately renamed Château Mouton-Rothschild. 100 years of Château Mouton-Rothschild being in the family was celebrated in 1953. The label also states the names of Baron Philippe’s father Henri and his grandfather James.

Spring began early, but brought quite a few night frosts. Beautiful blossom in the vines, but the cold nights led to bud damage. A hot June was followed by exceptionally good weather in August. Due to heavy rain, the harvest was delayed until late September.

 

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Vintage 1953

The 1953 became the first top vintage of the 1950s. The year turned out to be excellent, even if the heavy rains in September threatened to destroy a good year. The hot, dry summer was capped by a perfect August. The mercury exceeded 30°C for more than half of the days in August. Fortunately, rains in mid-September gave way to ideal harvest conditions in early October. The best wines of this vintage are united by their elegance, delicacy and temperance. They should ideally be decanted for two hours before drinking. The vintage received praise particularly in the Médoc, which produced the best wines of the entire vintage. One of the most famous of them is Château Lafite-Rothschild. Many consider him to be the best Lafite-Rothschild of the entire 20th century. Although Graves and Sauternes also produced high-level wines, Pomerol and Saint-Émilion today offer just as many exceptional creatures, with the crème de la crème being Cheval Blanc and Lafleur.

By Tb

 

 

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Average Bottle Price

2016 2015 2013 2012 2010 2005 2000 1995
1 833€ +1.8% 1 801€ +1.1% 1 781€ +17.0% 1 522€ -1.4% 1 544€ +157.8% 599€ +9.1% 549€ +70.5% 322€

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.

Tasting note

color

Deep, Brick red and Healthy

ending

Medium, Smooth and Gentle

flavors

Blackberry, Cedar, Cigar-box, Earthy, Tobacco and Herbs

nose

Intense, Opulent, Refined and Pure

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Warming, Balanced, Well-Integrated, Elegant, Round and Rich

Verdict

Fine

Written Notes

A healthy, fresh-looking mature colour. Very delicate and sensitive wine with sweet concentrated flavours of red fruits and chocolate. The best in this wine was its elegance and faultless mouth feel, which was decadently silky and classy. Very fragrant and smooth wine, almost as great as the 1955 Mouton, which merely has a slightly better balance and complexity, but they both share the same very long and concentrated finish. At 54 years of age, this Mouton is at its peak now, but should easily live on for at least one more decade. A genuinely classic and vigorous Mouton.
  • 95p
The 1953 Mouton Rothschild had a gorgeous nose with beautiful fruit and nice tea and aromas. It was tender, smooth and satiny, a true mature lover’s wine. Ed found ‘roses’ and Alex ‘iron.’ While it didn’t have the weight of some of the others, it was lovely and oh so beautiful (95).
  • 95p

On two occasions, I’ve been lucky enough to do very thorough vertical tastings of this prestigious cru, which defies the decades to reach, around its thirtieth year in bottle, a unique expression of sensual, rigorous Cabernet Sauvignon that could sometimes be mistaken for a great Pomerol. This is particularly true of wines made in the 1940s and 1950s because of the way the winemakers of the time extracted tannin. For example, the incredibly dense 1945 has become a legend. At Mouton, I consistently preferred the 1947 and especially the 1949, as did the teams at the château, for their extra harmony, but my personal favourite (on both occasions I tasted it) was the 1953, the centenary year of Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild’s purchase of the estate. This vintage has a particular, almost Burgundian, finesse and grace, and a silky texture that is very different from that of the 1945, more modern in the tactile sensations it delivers, and which we find in recent vintages, with even greater regularity. This marvel is a sort of Mozart conducting Parsifal.

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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Good

Investment potential

Average

Fake factory

None

Glass time

1h

Drinking temperature

16

Inside Information

Parker 95 points / I remember a friend of mine decanting a magnum of this wine and sticking it under my nose to share with me the incredible bouquet. Lamentably the 1953 was not drunk for 3-4 hours. By the time it was poured, the bouquet had collapsed and the wine had lost much of its fruit. This bottle, which was decanted immediately before pouring, performed beautifully. It offered a deep ruby color with some amber at the edge. Exotic aromas of soy, new saddle leather, cassis, herbs, and spices leaped from the glass. Sweet and fat, with voluptuously-textured fruit, this low acid wine had no noticeable tannin. While it may be living dangerously, it is a decadent treat if it is drunk immediately after decanting. The bouquet merits 98-99 points and the flavors about 90 points. It should be drunk up.

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