In Bond Fine Wine. 2012 Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France. First Growth • Red Bordeaux in 6x75cl. Top critic score: 96/100 (NM). Sold in bond by Albany Vintners, independent fine wine merchants.
Château Mouton Rothschild is one of Bordeaux’s most celebrated estates - a First Growth that blends artistic flair with technical excellence and bold, expressive wines. Originally classified as a Second Growth in 1855, it became the only château to be elevated to First Growth status in 1973, thanks to the tireless efforts of Baron Philippe de Rothschild. Since then, Mouton has become a symbol of luxury and creativity, famously commissioning a different artist each year - Picasso, Warhol, Hockney, among others - to design its label. The label and artist reveal is always keenly anticipated. Mouton is known for itsr opulence, richness, and ageing potential - typically more flamboyant and exotic in style than its First Growth peers, with layers of cassis, cedar, spice, and polished tannins. Mouton’s recent vintages - 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022 - have received widespread acclaim, many…
Neal Martin (NM) — 96/100 · Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com, 28/10/2016 · Drink 2027-2060
Tasted blind at the 2012 Southwold tasting, the 2012 Mouton-Rothschild showed magnificently (as it subsequently did in a vertical just a few weeks later). It has an open, intense bouquet with pencil lead and cedar infusing the black fruit, tertiary in style at first but then transforming with aeration to a more marine-influenced bouquet'seaweed and iodine. The palate is medium-bodied with supple…
Robert Parker (RP) — 95–97/100 · Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com, 26/04/2013 · Drink 2018-2048
The intensely ripe Cabernet Sauvignon grown on the plateau at Mouton has produced an inky/purple-colored wine with the famous Mouton creme de cassis and floral characteristics vividly displayed. For the first time in a number of years they appear to have outdistanced their cross street rival, the biodynamically farmed Chateau Pontet Canet of Alfred Tesseron. Wonderfully sweet tannins envelop the…
Jancis Robinson MW (JR) — 18/20 · JancisRobinson.com, 24/04/2013 · Drink 2022-2040
Very dark crimson. Restrained nose. Grown-up and very much a first growth. Rich, sweet and well balanced though without real pzazz. Correct and sensitive. Fine and refined. Measured, I'd say, is the keyword. Acidity lightly in evidence. A palate scrub. Correct rather than mind-blowing. (18- Points)