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Wine Description
The Story
Produced from an exceptional terroir, Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild is the second wine of Château Mouton Rothschild.
Made with grapes from selected younger vines in the illustrious First Growth vineyard, it is harvested, vinified and bottled with the same scrupulous attention to detail. Harvested in small, open baskets, fermented in the Mouton oak vats, matured in oak barrels in the traditional way, all the conditions are met for the wine to express the elegance and richness of a great Pauillac.
In order to link the second wine more closely with its famous elder, illustrated by great artists since 1945, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild has chosen a label for Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild inspired by a drawing by the famous poster artist Jean Carlu.
A variation on the theme of the vine, the powerfully coloured drawing combines sensual shape with the clean geometries of the Art Deco style. It was made in 1927, following the artist’s design in the same period for the label for Château Mouton Rothschild 1924.
The first vintage, 1993, was called Le Second Vin de Mouton Rothschild, but it has borne its definitive name (which has a family connotation, Petit Mouton being the name of Baroness Philippine’s residence in the heart of the estate) since the following year, 1994.
Wine Information
Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild – 2010
Climatic conditions
2010 was a dry but relatively cool year, with no summer heatwave.
A generally cold winter gave way to a dry and cool spring that ended with some rainfall in mid-June.
Temperatures started rising on 21 June and the summer weather continued throughout a particularly sunny July.
The fine conditions of late July were followed by a cloudier, slightly cooler and very dry August. Summer weather returned on 21 August with high temperatures (reaching 38° C on the 25th and 26th) and cool nights, getting the ripening process off to a good start.
A welcome spell of rain between 6 and 8 September helped the grapes to mature. Acidity levels fell and phenolic maturation was slow but the crop remained in excellent condition.
The fine weather returned, still accompanied by cool nights, encouraging the quality and synthesis of anthocyans and flavour until the harvest.
After showers on 26 September, picking started on 28 September in very good conditions and ended on 13 October. Naturally concentrated, the grapes were small and their juice, rich and highly coloured, displayed good acidity.
These factors – dry conditions without drought, an exceptional amount of sunshine, cool nights and rainfall that arrived at just the right time – give the 2010 vintage a remarkable identity. A splendid sequel to 2009, it is sure to become an outstanding year in the long history of fine Bordeaux wine.
Vintage 2010
Drought and cool temperatures contribute to optimal ripeness
The sum of summer temperatures in 2010 was close to that of summer 2009 (962°C compared to 982°C), but significantly colder than those of 2005, which totaled 1052°C. These cool temperatures had a substantial influence on the balance of our wines, preserving a good level of acidity and an attractive aromatic freshness.
Very little precipitation (only 267 mm) from March to August 2010 generating a drought of similar intensity to that of 2005, when only 227 mm of rain fell.
Another characteristic of the 2010 vintage is the low temperatures especially during the first three weeks of August, which allowed good acidity levels to be preserved in the grapes while maintaining an attractive aromatic freshness.
