Château Mouton Rothschild 2008

Critic scores

• Jeb Dunnuck96
• Wine Advocate95

The 2008 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 91/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A bright late season saved a cool summer: wines of unexpected freshness and aromatic precision.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pauillac. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

With, once again, a very large proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, Château Mouton Rothschild presents a very rich aromatic palette throughout the tasting. The first nose is intense and open: red fruit, blackberry and blackcurrant combine harmoniously with floral notes such as violet. Allowed to breathe, empyreumatic notes blend gracefully with delicate cedar notes. On the palate, the wine offers a lively, powerful, robust attack and releases silky and velvety tannins. The fruit, with a predominance of black berries, is very present, and enhanced by toasted notes and a delicious hint of vanilla. The finish, powerful and harmonious, offers very nice length. In 2008, nature will have taken its time to provide the necessary elements, from the vines to winemaking, in order to produce a very great wine.

Blend of the 2008 vintage

Figures from the 2008 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 44 yrsVine age
• 300,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

It is accomplished in an oak vat, one of the last in the Médoc, for 15 to 25 days. Mouton Rothschild practices unusual vinification by leaving the wine in vats after the end of fermentation. This gives additional body, requiring longer maturation in the bottle to reach full maturity.

Ageing

In oak barrels for 19 to 22 months.

Terroir

Château Mouton Rothschild has 84 hectares of vines in Pauillac, planted with the varieties typical of the region: Cabernet Sauvignon (80%), Merlot (16%), Cabernet Franc (3%) and Petit Verdot (1%). This premier cru enjoys exceptional natural conditions, both in the quality of its soils and in their exposure and sunshine. The Château brings together all the conditions for an exceptional terroir: a rise of nearly 8 m of dense, poor Garonne gravels resting on a marl-limestone base shot through with traces of iron oxide.