Mouton Rothschild 2012

As it often is, this is the richest and showiest of the first growths at this early stage. Madein the château's new chai for the first time, giving Mouton the ability to vinify "microplots",this is a rich, plush Pauillac that's built to last, with lots of aromatic blackberryfruit, sweet oak and a powerful, satisfying finish. Much more concentrated than Lafite andLatour, with riper fruit flavours.Drink: 2022-45

The 2012 Mouton-Rothschild has turned out well. Primarily all Cabernet Sauvignon, it exhibits a dense blue/purple color as well as lots of crème de cassis, incense and forest floor. Full-bodied and dense with sweet tannin, it is a surprisingly successful wine for this vintage. Give it another 5-8 years of cellaring and drink it over the following three decades.

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 enormous fruit and extravagant richness of this full-bodied Mouton Rothschild. With profound density as well as surprisingly sweet tannin, this terrific effort will probably shut down slightly and require 5-8 years of cellaring after bottling. It appears to have 30 or more years of aging potential, making it potentially one of the 3 or 4 longest-lived wines of the vintage. Mouton Rothschild has produced one of the vintage-s most profound wines in 2012, and possibly the -wine of the Medoc.- About 49% of the production made it into the 2012 Mouton, which is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. The harvest took place during the middle two weeks of October. This may be one of the few 2012s that comes close to equaling what was achieved in both 2009 and 2010, two far superior vintages.

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 ripe blackberry and boysenberry fruit. The tannins are ripe and fine, the acidity very well judged with a velvety, detailed finish that lingers long in the mouth. Density and harmony combine to make a stunning Mouton-Rothschild that should be afforded 15 years in bottle. It might be destined to be one of those wines forever eclipsed by recent outstanding vintages. Tasted January 2016.

Tasted twice en primeur at Mouton-Rothschild. A blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc and 8% Merlot harvested from 1st October and finished on 15th October, with the best Cabernet Sauvignon picked between 8th and 12th October. This is the first vintage in the new facility - now there are 56 instead of 28 vats to make the selection. We can vinify plots that have never been vinified in isolation before. It has a very "classic" Mouton bouquet with small black cherries, blackberry, graphite and hints of vanilla lending it sweetness. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine, quite supple tannins. It is a very "correct" Mouton, without the flamboyance of the 2009 or 2010, but showing a little more delineation on the finish compared to the 2011. The aftertaste is long in the mouth with fine minerality - here we find the class and sophistication. This is an impressive, "stately" Mouton. Tasted April 2013.

Wonderful beauty to this wine with currants, blackberries and flowers. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a long, long finish. Creamy texture with a minerally, almost salty undertone to the wine. 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc.

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.

As for the 2012 Mouton Rothschild, one can’t help but love the artist’s label, in this case done by Miquel Barceló, of two rams fighting for superiority. Representing only 49% of the crop, this blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc has an inky bluish/purple color, which is far darker than its nearby neighbor, Lafite Rothschild, or even Pontet-Canet. Multi-layered, with rich, concentrated, crème de cassis fruit, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and stunning purity, this is a major success in 2012. Definitely a bigger, richer wine than rival Lafite Rothschild, Mouton’s 2012 seems to have more density as well. The tannins, however, remain soft and well-integrated. This wine should drink well for 25-30 years and is somewhat of a sleeper for a 2012 first-growth Médoc. Drink: 2015-2045.

The 2012 Mouton-Rothschild is an excellent wine for the vintage. Copious blackberry and blueberry fruits burst from the glass with incense and crushed violet scents, beautifully defined and perhaps even "audacious" for the growing season. The palate is "glossy" when compared directly to the other First Growth, yet there is brilliant delineation with a sense of tension on the finish. It's a vivid and almost brash Mouton-Rothschild, but quite compelling. Tasted blind in Bordeaux.