Chateau Mouton Rothschild Premier Cru Classe, Pauillac 1995

This wine is evolving into one of Mouton-Rothschild’s greatest vintages. It boasts an inky purple colour and a powerful blockbuster nose of explosively jammy cassis intermingled with toasty new oak, minerals, and spice. The wine has extraordinary depth, richness, glycerin, and length. This is undoubtedly the greatest Mouton since the 1986, with a more precocious, up-front character than that wine. A formidable tannin level combined with low acidity the wine’s PH is around 3.8), and magnificent layers of fruit suggest the 1995 will be approachable after bottling, but I expect it to close down as most Mouton-Rothschilds do) after 6-7 years in the bottle, not to re-emerge for 15-20 years.

Drink 2005 - 2030

72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.68; IPT 64; 12.4% alcohol; 88% new oak; 95% selection for the grand vin.

Very dark, fully saturated ruby to the rim. Deep, brooding, rich blackberry, violet, milk chocolate, black pepper, cedar and incense aromas are sexy and captivating. Bright and focused on entry, then rich, smooth and suave, with highly concentrated red berries, dark plum, cedar and graphite flavours. The extremely long, juicy finish features lively acids, great balance and persistent notes of underbrush and minerals.

The mounting tannins coat the palate dry and are still years away from resolving fully. Harvested from September 12 through 27, the Merlot was probably very ripe. Tourbier said, “We included a bit more Merlot than usual because we felt the cabernet sauvignon had particularly tough tannins in 1995, and we didn’t want to risk making too tough or structured a wine. So we used the Merlot to soften it up a bit.”

The estate was so happy with the quality of the wine and the rather high 95% selection for the grand vin speaks volumes), said Tourbier, that they only made 15 barriques of the second wine Petit Mouton, which was launched with the 1993 vintage. A huge volume year, 1995 was characterised by very fine weather through most of the growth cycle but was marred by September rains.

This explodes on the nose with prunes, blackberries, mushrooms and fresh tobacco. Full body, ripe tannins and a juicy finish. Big and powerful. It still could do with a decade or more of ageing.

While the 1995 Mouton Rothschild has begun to soften somewhat in the last six or seven years, it remains remarkably youthful. Offering a deep and primary bouquet of ripe cassis fruit and creamy new oak, it’s medium to full-bodied, rich and layered, with a vibrant core of concentrated fruit, powdery tannins and a long, resonant finish. This is a pure, beautifully balanced Mouton that simply hasn’t evolved very much, even as it closes in on its third decade. While I can attest that it can be drunk with great enjoyment today, real complexity has yet to emerge.

Drink 2020 - 2055