Chateau Mouton Rothschild Vertical Tasting back to 1959 at Cafe Maxx

Chateau Mouton Rothschild Vertical Tasting back to 1959 at Cafe Maxx

Friday, January 31, 2014

7:00 PM

This is one of our "once in a Lifetime" tasting events.  When I get a bottle of wine like a 1959 Chateau Mouton in my hands the last thing that I want to do is sell it!  The 1959 vintage in Bordeaux is legendary and finding good examples of these wines is getting harder and harder so whenever I come across one, I put a date on the calendar to drink it!  

This is a sit down pre-poured event and is limited to 14 tasters.  Chef Oliver Saucy will be making a few small courses to accompany the tasting wines and we will be ordering off the menu for dinner.  The fee for this tasting is $595.00 + tax + gratuity, for reservations call 954-523-9463.

Tasting Line-up:

2009 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Aile d'Argent Blanc Price: $151.25

Wine Watch Notes:  The white wine of Chateau Mouton Rothschild is very hard to find but it is worth a search as it is exceptional.  The sandy, gravelly soil is planted with Sauvignon Blanc or Gris (56%), Semillon (43%) and Muscadelle (1%), with a density of 9,000 vines per hectare. 50% of the wine is matured in new oak barrels.  Very rich and aromatic bouquet with notes of candied orange, pink grapefruit jolly rancher candy, passion fruit, very exotic with a hint of vanilla spice.  Smooth and creamy texture on the tongue with a long complex finish, exotic tropical fruits, guava, very concentrated and long finish with lovely bright acidity cleaning things up. Finish 50 + Most Excellent  Tasted 11/13

1959 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac Price: $2500.00

(100 Points) I am always blown away by the 1959 Mouton, one of the greatest Moutons made in the last thirty-five years. Every time I have this wine it is undeniable that Mouton made a richer, more persuasive wine in 1959 than in 1961. Astonishingly young and unevolved, with a black/purple color, the wine exhibits a youthful nose of cassis, minerals, and new oak. It is exceptionally powerful and super-extracted, with the fruit supported by high levels of tannin and some lusty quantities of alcohol. This mammoth, full-bodied Mouton-Rothschild should continue to evolve for another 20-30 years. It may well be a 100-year wine! Last tasted 3/97.  Bordeaux Book, 3rd Edition, Jan 1998

1966 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac Price: $1200 Sale $900

(90 Points) This review may be generous, but I have always liked this wine, even though it borders on being slightly too dry, austere, and restrained. Nevertheless, the dark garnet color and classic sweet, spicy, tobacco, coffee, and black currant aromas are enticing. The wine still has powerful tannin in the finish, which contributes to the dry, austere character this example has always exhibited. One of the more intellectually-styled Moutons, the 1966 is a classic example of the vintage, as well as of the chateau's Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated style. Anticipated maturity: Now-2008. Last tasted 10/97  Bordeaux Book, 3rd Edition, Jan 1998

1970 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac Price: $495

(96 Points) Deep garnet; fragrant tar and black truffle nose; extremely concentrated; big and mouth-filling, with very dense cassis flavor; enormous, generous fruit; a voluptuous claret. Wine Spectator Issue: May 15, 1993

1986 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac Price: $1215.00

(100 Points) After stumbling over some wines I thought were high class Bordeaux, I nailed this wine in one of the blind tastings for this article. In most tastings where a great Bordeaux is inserted with California Cabernets, the Bordeaux comes across as drier, more austere, and not nearly as rich and concentrated (California wines are inevitably fruitier and more massive). To put it mildly, the 1986 Mouton-Rothschild held its own (and then some), in a flight that included the Caymus Special Selection, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23, Dunn Howell Mountain, and Joseph Phelps Eisele Vineyard. Clearly the youngest looking, most opaque and concentrated wine of the group, it tastes as if it has not budged in development since I first tasted it out of barrel in March, 1987. An enormously concentrated, massive Mouton-Rothschild, comparable in quality, but not style, to the 1982, 1959, and 1945, this impeccably made wine is still in its infancy. Interestingly, when I was in Bordeaux several years ago, I had this wine served to me blind from a magnum that had been opened and decanted 48 hours previously. Even then, it still tasted like a barrel sample! I suspect the 1986 Mouton-Rothschild requires a minimum of 15-20 more years of cellaring; it has the potential to last for 50-100 years! Given the outrageously high prices being fetched by so many of the great 1982s and 1990s (and lest I forget, the 1995 Bordeaux futures), it appears this wine might still be one of the "relative bargains" in the fine wine marketplace. I wonder how many readers will be in shape to drink it when it does finally reach full maturity? The tasting notes for this section are from two single blind tastings, one conducted in May, 1996, in California, and the other in June, 1996, in Baltimore. Wine Advocate # 106, Aug 1996

1989 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac Price $498.00

(96 Points) Shows so much ripe and decadent fruit on the nose, from dried berries and raisin to strawberry and sultana. There is a nutty, cedar undertone as well. Very complex and full-bodied, with lots of vanilla bean and ripe plum flavors. This is almost Burgundian in texture: so soft and so attractive, but then the Bordeaux tannins kick in at the end. What a wine. So much ahead in its life, but just coming around now.—'89/'99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now. 25,000 cases made. –JS  Wine Spectator, Issue: Web Only - 2010

1996 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac Price: $715.00

(96 Points) Incredible nose of ultraripe fruit, it's yet subtle and complex. Full-bodied, with very ripe, almost sweet fruit and a long, long caressing finish. Superb. This is edging out the 1995.--'95/'96 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2010. –JS  Wine Spectator, Issue: Web Only - 2007

2000 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac Price: $1600.00

(97 Points) The 2000 Mouton Rothschild is at its best with about 24-48 hours of decanting. A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot, the wine offers a saturated ruby/purple color in addition to reticent but promising aromas of toast, coffee, licorice, creme de cassis, and roasted nuts. Dense, chewy, and backward, with tremendous purity and density in addition to obvious toasty oak, it is full-bodied, powerful, tannic, and backward. Twenty-four to 48 hours of aeration only hints at its ultimate potential. This blockbuster will be exceptionally long-lived. It is not as expressive as the other first-growth Medocs, but give it time.

As I predicted in my first report on the millennium vintage (April, 2001), Philippine de Rothschild could be expected to do something special with her presentation of 2000. She has exceeded everyone's expectations with a work of art. Those who have seen the extraordinary packaging of the 2000 Mouton Rothschild must certainly realize this is a brilliant achievement. The bottle is extraordinary, and likely to have nearly as much value empty as full! Her genius is obvious, but it's what's inside that counts!Wine Advocate # 146, Apr 2003

2004 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac Price: $400

(93 Points) Beautiful aromas of crushed berries and chocolate, with hints of Indian spices. Full-bodied, with silky, velvety tannins and a long, caressing finish. A lovely wine for the vintage. This is the first wine from the new winemaking team at Mouton and is showing really well. Best after 2011. 23,000 cases made. –JS  Wine Spectator, Issue: Mar 31, 2007

1988 Chateau Climens Sauternes Price: $210.00

(96 Points) The 1988 reveals layer upon layer of honeyed pineapple-and orange-scented and -flavored fruit, vibrant acidity, high levels of botrytis, and a fabulously long, yet well-focused finish. It is a great wine. Anticipated maturity: 1998-2015. Wine Advocate #98, Apr 1995

The price of this dinner is $595 + tax + gratuity, for reservations call 954-523-9463.

It is without doubt the most interesting and the most controversial of all the châteaux in Bordeaux; and its former owner, the late Baron Philippe de Rothschild, would have it no other way.  There have been four generations of Rothschilds since the Baron's great grandfather, Nathaniel, bought the château in 1853; but the family did not take much interest in Mouton until young Baron Philippe came to live on the property in 1923 - the first Rothschild to be a live-in proprietor.  It was to signal a new era for Mouton and a new era for Bordeaux, for not only did the Baron Philippe begin to do much to attract the world's attention to the merits of his own wine, he also generated a great deal of interest in the entire Bordeaux region.  After fifty years of hard work, Baron Philippe scored a great personal triumph in 1973.  In that year Mouton was reclassified from a second to a first cru in the elite 1855 Grand Cru Classification, a long-overdue recognition and the first time a wine had ever been upgraded in this controversial and ossified classification.

In 1945 Mouton began the controversial practice of adorning each new vintage with the work of a famous artist (such publicity gimmicks were considered "bad form" among the staid, aristocratic society of Bordeaux.) However, the "label art" today has become something famous in itself (the labels themselves are now collector's items and one must get his original by purchasing a bottle), and the original objections raised have long been forgotten.  Some of the great artists of the 20th century have done work for the labels - Braque, Dali, Chagall, Kandinsky, and Picasso.  Andy Warhol did the 1975, and John Huston, the movie director, painted the label for the legendary 1982.  In addition to presiding over one of the world's great wine estates for some sixty years, Baron Philippe had also been a great patron of the arts.  The château itself is a major tourist attraction in Bordeaux and houses one of the world's great wine museums.  The chai, in which new vintages of Mouton age in shiny barrels, is a breathtaking sight for the winelover.  The great Baron died at his home in Paris in January of 1988, and his funeral was one of the largest ever witnessed in the Médoc - nearly 1500 people attended a grand ceremony at the Château.  Under French law, the dead may not be buried at their estates, but the Rothschild family was granted an exception by the authorities.  The Baron's daughter, the Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, assumed control and management of the Château after her fathers death.

Over the course of the past few years, the Baroness has been actively involved at Mouton, and there was never a doubt that she would continue the legacy established by her father.  Certainly the circumstances could not be more favorable, for Mouton-Rothschild has been on a roll in the 1980, 1990's and through the new century - the château has produced some of the greatest wines in its history and arguably the greatest wines in Bordeaux.

Mouton Rothschild is planted to 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 8% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot.  The vineyard is mostly gravel on a subsoil of marl and clay.  Vines are planted 8,000 to 10,000 per hectare.  Average yield per hectare is 35 hectoliters.  Pruning is Guyot Double Medocaine Keep this wine around for 10-15 years, although at that time you may not want to drink it after you check the current sale price.