2018 Château Mouton Rothschild 1er Grand Cru Classe

The vineyards of Château Mouton Rothschild are located northwest of Bordeaux, on the edge of the Medoc. The vines are planted on a narrow strip of land 80 km long and 5 to 10 km wide, close to the river, which moderates temperature differences. Bordering the northern border of the Landes forest, the Medoc benefits from the mildness of the maritime climate while being protected. In 1855, the best 61 wines from the Haut-Médoc were qualified as 'Grand Cru Classé', again subdivided into the 1st to the 5th Cru. The selection was based on the prices paid for the wines since about 1750. The 1st cru include Château Lafite, Latour, Margaux, and Haut-Brion. In 1973, Château Mouton was added to these four.

Pauillac is located on the Gironde, northwest of the city of Bordeaux. Pauillac (1,200 ha) is one of the best wine regions in the Haut-Médoc and is located below Saint-Estèphe. The village has 3 Premier Grands Cru Classé's: Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Mouton Rothschild. A total of 18 Grand Cru Classés from Pauillac account for 80% of the vineyard area in this commune. The top layer of this wine region consists of pebble, with a subsoil of clay and limestone.

The Mouton Rothschild 2018 is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. There is also a dash of Petit Verdot in there, but that isn't even reflected in the percentage. The alcohol content is 13.8%, which is relatively modest for the vintage. Deep garnet purple in color, it immediately pops with bright, vibrant notes of blackcurrant, blackberry and redcurrant jelly with slowly emerging nuances of candied violets, stewed plums, licorice and black tea, plus a hint of dusty red earth. Built like a brick house with super firm, super ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness supporting the muscular black fruit, this medium-bodied wine finishes long and savory with lingering mineral aftertaste.

“We only suffered 2% loss due to mildw in 2018,” said Managing Director Philippe Dhalluin. “But we had low yields on all the deep gravelly soils because of the dry period, more so at Mouton than at Clerc Milon. Clerc Milon has three meters of gravel before you get to the clay and limestone that holds the water. At Mouton there are six meters of gravel before you get to the clay and limestone.” This made for yields of 28 hectoliters per hectare at Mouton Rothschild, while Clerc Milon came in at 32 hectoliters per hectare, and the average for Pauillac was around 38 hectoliters per hectare. “In late September, it was still hot during the days, around 32 degrees Celsius, but the night temperatures dropped down to around seven degrees to allow the ripening to slow down,” Dhalluin said, explaining how the berries made it over that magic finish line to full phenolic (tannin) ripeness. All the Baron Philippe de Rothschild 2018 wines were blended early, from the end of November through early December, because the ferments went quite quickly. A lot of Merlot went into the second wines this year. Dhalluin commented that the Merlots were amazing this year, but Cabernet was even better.

FACT : The wine is stored in our conditioned Wine Warehouse and if you pick up the wine you will often receive a nice discount. You will immediately see the possible discount if you choose Pickup in the Checkout page. We are almost next to the Rijksweg with plenty of parking. Click here for address.