1956 Château Mouton Rothschild

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 85.5 points

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  4/2/2024 - Sean Tay Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Hundred Acre Tasting: Personally felt its a good condition when I look through the bottle. Bright red and clear from the bottle. Pronounced nose intensity with notes of spices, cinnamon, mushroom, truffle, toast. Nose is aromatic. Finish is medium. Medium acidity and medium- tannin.

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  8/3/2012 - NewFrenchClaret wrote: 76 Points

  12% ABV. Bought for $25 at an estate sale with low shoulder fill. Not decanted. Incredibly long cork came out in one. Totally soaked through. Color surprisingly deep and dense, with plenty of bricking around the edge.
  
  A tricky one to pin down this. A candied and ancient nose with plenty of layers (only some of them desirable). Kind of like digging through an old closet you haven't touched in years. Every now and then you find a treasure, but every now and then a pair of sweaty socks. Mushrooms, plums, soil, rotten flowers and a touch of madeira. Actually rather nice in its way, and relatively intense. In fact I've had some great wines which have similar characteristics, usually Crus Bourgeoises from the late 70s/early 80s.
  
  However, the tannins in the wine are brutal. It's like drinking cement. God knows what this wine would have been like 30 years ago. They don't ease off over time; you just get used to them. Initially pretty sour and unpleasant, after which the wine smooths out and resolves somewhat.
  
  The letdown is the finish. The wine is so thin and diluted (by Mouton standards) it barely lasts ten seconds. The tannins are almost a necessity to make you feel like you're not drinking water. It's quite peculiar given the concentration of the nose.
  
  All in all a fascinating experience and definitely more impressive than its reputation (or lack of) may suggest. Michael Broadbent once suggested that one should drink 1956's "mainly as a penance". The Mouton far exceeded that benchmark, despite being by no stretch of the imagination a good wine.
  
  Hard to score but I'd give it a 81. My wife scores it (reluctantly) a 70. Therefore a 76. It is however a good study for what frost can do to a vintage and a bargain at the price, if you can find it.

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