Château Mouton Rothschild 2014

Critic scores

• James Suckling99
• Vinous97
• Jeb Dunnuck97
• Wine Enthusiast97
• Wine Advocate95
• Decanter91

The 2014 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 90/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A gloomy summer redeemed by an Indian summer: the cabernets are radiant and the freshness is true to the Médoc.

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

The color is deep red with purple highlights. The nose, fine and distinguished, suggests great maturity of the fruit, pleasantly mixing subtle notes of spices and vanilla. The velvety attack fills the palate with a ripe and creamy substance, accompanied by silky and firm tannins which coat a satin texture with a touch of minerality. The finish, of great length, harmoniously combines complexity, opulence and freshness.

Blend of the 2014 vintage

Figures from the 2014 sheet

• 44 yrsVine age
• 300,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Vinification is carried out in an oak vat, one of the last in the Médoc, for 15 to 26 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 takes place in oak barrels for 19 to 22 months.

Ageing

After vinification, ageing takes place in new oak barrels and its various stages take place in the great Médoc tradition: notably topping, and fining with egg white, which aims to clarify and stabilize the wine by encouraging the precipitation of the particles found in suspension. During ageing, which lasts around twenty months, the barrels are transferred from the Grand Chai to the second year cellar, where the wine ends its stay at the Château in a cool place.

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.