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  • Country ranking ?

    1 744
  • Producer ranking ?

    106
  • Decanting time

    45min
  • When to drink

    now to 2025
  • Food Pairing

    Marinated venison skewer with celery

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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

HANS HARTUNG

A pioneer of Lyrical Abstraction, Hans Hartung (1904-1989) studied philosophy and the history of art in Germany, leaving when the Nazis came to power and settling in Paris. He joined the Foreign Legion in 1939, was badly wounded and lost a leg. After the war he took French nationality. “What I love is acting on canvas”. Rejecting geometrical abstraction, he offers painting based on the spontaneous act of applying the paint: long black strokes that seem to claw across what are often monochrome backgrounds, giving his austere calligraphic language a sense of freedom and rebellion.

His painting for the 1980 Mouton Rothschild label concentrates all the depth and explosive power of his larger works.

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

Good, notably dark and healthy colour for the vintage. At first the bouquet was a bit unclean and unrefined, but after 15 minutes in the glass it turned out far better than I initially thought it ever would – a soft, refined bouquet of sweet, toasty, gentle oak mixed with ripe black cherries and coffee flavours. On the palate it was a bit dry and lacking some ripe fruit, a wine with very low acidity, but simultaneously it has some way good balance and extensive, pleasing mouth-feel with really soft and gentle tannins. Lovely and fragile wine with a bit dry and bitter aftertaste. Very good effort for the vintage.
  • 81p
1980 is another unheralded and forgotten year in Bordeaux, but the 1980 Mouton Rothschild was a pleasant surprise. There were lots of cedar, spice, mineral and coffee aromas in the nose, with a touch of dry grass and nice fruit. Its palate was round with nice green hues and decent depth. This wine was still solid, although probably not a vintage to drink by yourself over the course of an evening (90).
  • 90p

A level fill, cork soaked. Bright ruby, broad garnet rim and orange outer rim. Leather, cedar, blackcurrants, paprika, typical Pauillac, if on the leaner side and of lesser intensity. Figs and dried fruits, tannins close to gone, acidity is good, even playful, very elegant and nuanced, not at all big, think Burgundian in style and body, with Pauillac flavours. Great and elegant length. 88

  • 88p
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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Below Average

Value For Money

Satisfactory

Investment potential

Below Average

Fake factory

None
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