Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2016

Overview of the Wine
Chateau Mouton Rothschild, a Premier Cru Classé from the Bordeaux region and one of the world's greatest wines, is owned by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild. The estate includes 205 acres of vines at Pauillac planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (77%), Merlot (11%), Cabernet Franc (10%) and Petit Verdot (2%).

In 1853, Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild bought Chateau Brane-Mouton. In 1922, his great-grandson Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) decided to take the future of the estate into his own hands. His 65 years at Mouton bear witness to the strength of his personality, his spirit of enterprise and his sense of innovation.

In 1922, he was the first to introduce chateau bottling. In 1926, he built the famous Grand Chai, the majestic 100-meter first year cellar, which has become a major attraction for visitors to Mouton. 1945 marked the start of a fascinating collection of works of art, created every year for the Mouton label by famous painters. In 1973, after a twenty-year battle, Baron Philippe obtained a revision of the 1855 classification and Mouton was officially recognized as a First Growth.

In 1988, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild succeeded her father Baron Philippe. She has become the guarantor of the quality of an illustrious wine whose motto proudly proclaims, "First I am, second I was, I Mouton do not change."

Grape / Blend
83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot

Origin
Pauillac, Bordeaux, France

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
The wine is a dark and intense cherry red. The highly refined nose reveals perfectly ripe fruit. Ripe bilberry and blackcurrant aromas combine harmoniously with floral notes. With airing, the nose unfolds on pepper and spice balanced by elegant notes of graphite and blonde tobacco, bringing charm and nobility to an extensive range of aromas. The full and dense attack exhibits exceptionally well-rounded and silky tannins. The ample mid-palate abounds in black fruit along with cocoa flavours and biscuity notes, leading into a full-bodied and remarkably persistent finish, the sign of a great vintage.

100 Points - James Suckling
Dark ruby, purple color. Aromas of blackcurrants, black truffle, crushed stone, licorice and hints of tar. Full-bodied, deep and vertical on the palate, drawing you in and down. The structure is very tannic and powerful, yet the tannins are folded into the wine. One of the most powerful Moutons ever for me. Try after 2027.

100 Points - Vinous
A towering, thrilling wine, the 2016 Mouton Rothschild is unbelievably beautiful today. Aromatics, fruit density and vertical structure all come together. In the glass, the 2016 is remarkably vivid and powerful, and yet a gentler, more feminine side emerges with time in the glass. The intense, mineral, savory profile recalls the 1986, but the 2016 has more grace, inner sweetness and sophistication than that wine. Even so, the 2016 is going to need at least a number of years in bottle before it starts drinking well, although it won't be the bruiser the 1986 remains to this day. This is breathtaking wine from Mouton, Tecnical Director Philippe Dhalluin and his team.

100 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Composed of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2016 Mouton Rothschild has an opaque garnet-purple color. WOW—the nose explodes from the glass with powerful blackcurrant cordial, black raspberries, blueberry pie and melted chocolate notions, plus suggestions of aniseed, camphor, lifted kirsch and the faintest waft of a subtle floral perfume in the background. Full-bodied, concentrated, bold and totally seductive in the mouth, it has very fine-grained, silt-like tannins, while jam-packed with tightly wound fruit layers, finishing in this wonderful array of mineral sparks. Magic.

100 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
Along with the Château Lafite, the 2016 Château Mouton Rothschild is the wine of the vintage from the Médoc and is a truly profound, magical, blockbuster wine in every sense. It’s based on 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, raised in new French oak. Boasting a saturated purple color as well as an extraordinary bouquet of thick black fruits, lead pencil shavings, new saddle leather, and burning embers, with just a hint of its oak upbringing, this beauty hits the palate with a mammoth amount of fruit and texture yet stays fresh, pure, and light on its feet, with a thrilling sense of minerality as well as building tannins on the finish. It’s one of the most profound young wines I’ve ever tasted, and while it will probably keep for three-quarters of a decade, it offers pleasure even today. Bravo!

99 Points - Decanter
A higher level of acidity than is usual for Mouton is buttressed by waves of fruit and tannin. It's a modern take on 1986 that shows the most wonderful precision of creme caramel, liquorice, blackcurrant, creme de cassis and cedar. it's opulent but also has great tension through the palate - a monumental Mouton that for me has gained in stature over the past two years of ageing. The idea of a drinking window almost feels like a mirage - the perfect moment is likely to recede into the distance time and time again. It could be drunk in the next decade perhaps, but it's going to take 20 years or more to really get into its stride. Easily one of the wines of the vintage, for me this is showing even better than during en primeur. 1% Cabernet Franc completes the blend.

98 Points - Wine Spectator
A generous, pure and lush ball of Cabernet, with wave after wave of unadulterated cassis and blackberry puree flavors rolling through. Features notes of roasted apple wood and sweet tobacco, offset by a long tug of sweet earth, but that’s all background music to the impressive core of fruit, which steams along like a cruise ship with enough stores in reserve to go around the world twice without stopping. Best from 2025 through 2045.

98 Points - Wine Enthusiast 
The rich fruit in this wine nearly envelops the tannins. Flavors of black plums, blackberries and blueberries meld with intense acidity to mask the power and concentration of the polished tannins. With this structure, will age for many, many years. Do not drink before 2026.

Product size: 750ml