The American Artists with Baroness Philippine de Rothschild
Del Posto
Tasted Sunday, October 12, 2008 by Keith Levenberg with 849 views
Flight 1 (8 Notes)
Closing
I'm a big fan of vertical tastings because it gives you a great sense of the wine's fundamental personality through those characteristics that remain constant each year, and of course in the way they evolve. So what's the personality of Mouton? Frankly, I don't think it has the distinctive personality of other firsts like Lafite or Haut-Brion. It's incredibly sophisticated -- it feels luxurious -- but I'm not sure I've ever had a Mouton that's as interesting as the other firsts can be. The '59 is the best argument to the contrary, so maybe the ultimate verdict is that Mouton can hit the highest highs in the best years (and needs 4-5 decades to get there) but never performs as well when the vintage is second-best or worse. I can't think of any Moutons that are both (1) as pleasurable and (2) as characteristic of the chateau as wines like '83 Lafite, '81 Cheval-Blanc, '81 Margaux, etc. So if we're playing the parlor game of classification, I can't think of any place for Mouton except some kind of limbo between the firsts and the seconds.
2001 Château Mouton Rothschild 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Fruit compote on the nose, but much more restrained on the palate, maybe even a little diluted. But it feels fleshy even if it lacks fruit intensity and the tannins are very fine-grained.
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1988 Château Mouton Rothschild 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
A pretty and very expressive perfume, leafy and minty. Most of the tannin seems to have eroded away and the result is an extremely elegant and supple claret with autumnal, apply fruit and a length that begins uncoiling even before the finish. A very sophisticated profile and seems to be entering its drinking window.
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1983 Château Mouton Rothschild 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
A big step forward in maturity, with a profile that's more vinous than fruited -- think of the difference between dry-aged beef and juicy red meat. This has some of the same cool mintiness as the '88. I think even Philippine seemed to be surprised how well this was showing.
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1982 Château Mouton Rothschild 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Here's a story... The first thing I did when I sat down was to take a whiff of the '82. Wet cardboard. Uh-oh! So I snuck away and grabbed another seat. This one wasn't as obviously musty but it was still there. Damnit. It was then I noticed this vintage was poured from magnum with only two for the room so I stayed put, and with every sip tried to convince myself that it wasn't corked. Indeed, the mustiness was only slight but the wine was surprisingly hollow given the reputation of this beast -- it had dimension, but not all of that space seemed filled in. Lesson learned: if you have to spend every sip convincing yourself the wine isn't corked, it's corked. At the end of the tasting I poured a taste from one of the magnums hoping it would be a good bottle -- and that confirmed it. A totally different profile, dense with sweet cherry fruit and equally dense tannin. Nice finesse to the tannin especially considering how much of it remains. But a perfect wine? Maybe in 20 years. In the meanwhile, I have to suspect the people doing cartwheels over this are letting the points affect their judgment. By the way, to the lady that made a beeline to the leftovers and poured most of a one-third-full magnum of '82 practically to the brim of your glass before anyone else got to it -- that was the corked bottle. Hope you enjoyed it.
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1975 Château Mouton Rothschild 84 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Rusty iron scent. Reminiscent of the '83 in its evolved flavor, but the '83 traversed the palate mellifluously while this one feels a little blocky in construction.
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1974 Château Mouton Rothschild 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Leathery scent with sweet, vinous flavors like it had been steeped in molasses; totally resolved in texture, and even though it checks out of the building on the finish, it's a great surprise in terms of how pleasurable and easy to drink it is now. "It's not bad!" Philippine exclaims. It's actually very good.
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1965 Château Mouton Rothschild 69 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
"A terrible year, a disaster all year round," says Xavier. Hopes that this might turn into a pleasant surprise like the '74 are quickly dashed. Smells liike a cobwebbed attic; has some up-front sweetness and hasn't broken up, but there's no pleasure to be found here. I guess it's a testament to the quality of Mouton's raw materials that a wine from so atrocious a vintage would still be alive, but that's about all you can say for it.
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1959 Château Mouton Rothschild 97 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
"Full of sunshine" is how Philippine describes the year, and the wine. A soft, figgy bouquet and an alluring palate with the vibrancy of ripe fruit of the younger wines but a texture that's totally resolved and silky. On the back end is where it gets really interesting with tertiary characteristics beyond mere integration with age, an inner-mouth perfume that calls to mind antique oiled furniture and woodspice.
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