Château Mouton-Rothschild 1959

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 I am always blown away by the 1959 Mouton!

Parker 100 points: I am always blown away by the 1959 Mouton, one of the greatest Moutons made in the last thirty-five years. Every time I have this wine it is undeniable that Mouton made a richer, more persuasive wine in 1959 than in 1961. Astonishingly young and unevolved, with a black/purple color, the wine exhibits a youthful nose of cassis, minerals, and new oak. It is exceptionally powerful and super-extracted, with the fruit supported by high levels of tannin and some lusty quantities of alcohol. This mammoth, full-bodied Mouton-Rothschild should continue to evolve for another 20-30 years. It may well be a 100-year wine!

Incredible plummy nose, full of scented spices. Real mintiness as well, à la Heitz Martha's Vineyard at its zenith. Glorious,
sweet and heady. Super chocolate finish, like chocolate-covered blackcurrants. Marvellously fascinating, ripe and exotic. Riveting to compare with the stylistically quite different 1961 and the room usually divides on this one. At its half century, this was an absolute knock-out. Peppermint, eucalyptus nose. Incredibly rich and voluptuous on the palate - total glycerol. A wine for hedonists! Burnt cassis berries and liquorice, with coffee beans on the end. Serena Sutcliffe, MW
WA 100 

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)