Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1999

The beautiful 1999 Mouton Rothschild may be a modern day clone of their 1962 or 1985. Its saturated ruby/purple color is followed by sumptuous aromas of cedar wood, creme de cassis, wood smoke, coffee, and dried herbs. The wine is forward, lush, and full-bodied. It is already complex as well as succulent, fleshy, and long. Tannin in the finish suggests more nuances will emerge in 4-5 years. It is a complex, classic Mouton. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2030.

Delivers sweet tobacco and plum aromas, with a lovely richness. Full-bodied, featuring lots of cedar, tobacco, chocolate and berry character. Long and silky in the palate. There is no sense in waiting; this is so delicious now. -- '89/'99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now. 20,165 cases made.

Still showing some vibrant red/black fruit notes, this has some primary characters and firm, grippy tannins which should allow the wine to age for at least another five years. An elegant Mouton with intriguing herbs and spices on the nose, with blackcurrant flavour coming through on the medium-bodied palate. Restrained and understated, although lacking the density of the top vintages. Harvested 24 September to 2 October. 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc. 60% of production used for the Grand Vin.

A spicy Bordeaux with berries and hints of currants. Full, super round and soft – surrounded by vanilla and blueberry pie. Lovely. Just coming around now. Delicious.

Sweet and lively and lean and a little tart. Fine but not ineluctably first growth standard. A bit stolid and simple. (JR)

The 1999 Mouton-Rothschild, which Philippe Dhalluin told me was harvested in one week, has a forward, showy bouquet with more upfront black fruit than the 1999 Lafite-Rothschild I tasted an hour earlier. Blackberry mixes with hints of star anise and light tobacco notes, conveying energy and fine delineation if not the profundity of the greatest vintages. There seems to be a lot of extraction and/or vin de presse here. The palate is medium-bodied with sweet tannin and a fine bead of acidity, and quite dense and grippy in the mouth. There is presence but not the same sophistication that Dhalluin imparts nowadays. A pleasurable Mouton-Rothschild that tries everything to appeal, whereas nowadays it is more effortless. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the estate.

Quite nice and on its way to maturity with a nose of tobacco, spice, cassis, black cherry, cedar chest, smoke, coffee beans and a hint of truffle. Round, soft tannins and a plush, classy, dark cherry, plum, cassis and spicy finish make this one of the best wines of the vintage. From a blend of with a high percentage of Merlot for Mouton Rothschild, 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, you can drink it now, or wait a few years. Medium/full bodied, lacking the concentration of the better vintages, it's not a wine to lay down for decades, but it's a fine version of a classic Pauillac that married perfectly with a roast chicken. The original sale price tag of $85 brought a smile to our face. Those were the days...

Brightening garnet, luminous, with a relatively wide rim. Ripe bouquet: blackcurrant, toasty notes, caramel, fine refreshing herbal tones, playful. Juicy, easy-drinking palate, a bit light but quite creamy; still gently firm at the core, more volume than substance, therefore a little bluff at the moment.

One of the shortest harvests in the history of Mouton-Rothschild! Between September 27 and October 2, all three grape varieties were picked one after the other after the rain. For Mouton 1999, a relatively short maceration was used. The very first barrel sample thrilled me, and I gave this refined wine 18/20. Did the team then include too much press wine in the blend to bolster the wine’s delicate structure? That’s perfectly legitimate, although as a taster you somehow feel duped when what you’re shown at the en primeur tasting doesn’t match what is ultimately bottled. After all, quite a few wine lovers buy on the basis of the first scores, since they don’t have the chance to taste the young wine themselves. 00: Barrel sample (18/20): 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. One third of the crop was declassified and 85% new barrels were used for élevage: a dreamlike, sweet Cabernet bouquet, ripe fruit notes, gently plummy, cooked cassis and fresh blackberries, with a hint of mint and dark chocolate. On the palate juicy, elegant, beautifully balanced; again a blueberry-driven fruit play, less dry than the previous vintages, a compact finish that nonetheless fades out elegantly and at length. A more feminine Mouton with lots of finesse. Second tasting in autumn 2000: sweet, plummy tones with toasted nuts, bread crust, a warm, ripe bouquet. Medium-weight palate, again plum and nut notes; the tannins seem surprisingly ripe, increasingly reminiscent of Mouton 1987, although this one has very little primary fruit (where is the Mouton cassis character?). It develops rather quickly and in this new form unfortunately no longer ranks among the best 1999s in the Médoc (17/20). Spring 2001: tasted again at Mouton during the en primeur tasting for the 2000 vintage. A real David (1999) and Goliath (2000) situation—this time Goliath will win by a mile. The 1999 now seems incredibly thin and will certainly be less enjoyable than I initially assumed. Did they (a man?) select too little rigorously, or adjust something after the en primeur tasting (16/20)? Autumn 2001: Mouton is now communicating a different percentage breakdown than what I was given at the en primeur tasting!? Did they remix the whole thing? And on top of that—after the 1997 Mouton label already looked like kindergarten art—they added a label that, to me, is among the most awful possible versions of wine “art.” Still, one could call the label balanced—it at least matches the rather poorly executed Mouton 1999! 03: Lightening ruby red with remaining bluish reflections slowly disappearing. Creamy, plummy bouquet, sweet earthy/humus notes, roasted peanuts, lots of coffee from overly heavy toasting, fully present and open, with a withered fruit underneath. On the palate upfront, hard and bitter, unripe tannins, coarse and splintery, accompanying a tongue nearly penetrated by acidity; sandy texture with no finesse or elegance. A wine that is too light relative to its hard tannins and overall extraction. Too much press wine or too much extraction? (16/20). 07: Lightening garnet, bright, relatively wide rim. Ripe bouquet, cassis, toasty notes, caramel, fine refreshing herbal tones, playful. Juicy, easy-drinking palate, a bit light but quite creamy; still gently firm at the core; shows much more fullness, almost meaty, and therefore seems a bit bluffing at the moment. (17/20). 14: Warm presence with dark roast. On the palate, charm and a certain sex appeal. (17/20). 16: The color shows maturity appropriate for the vintage. Open, delicately toasty bouquet, Earl Grey tea notes, pralines, and a hint of lemon thyme. On the palate still quite meaty, with subtly firm tannins in the extract, perhaps a touch austere. Otherwise it still drinks very well. (17/20). 17: Now fully mature, with no need to rush. Drunk with Lucien in Ste. Maxime. Not a great Mouton, but quite a lovely Mouton. (17/20). 18: The color seems surprisingly dark for a 1999. Deep garnet in the center with a brick-red rim. The bouquet is fully open, showing a forest-like sweetness, with a peppery—perhaps even slightly piercing—nuance at its core. On the palate it gains aromatically: Peru balsam, cinnamon, and exotic woods, with a fairly meaty, sometimes grainy contour. You could describe it as a Mouton with edges and angles. There’s still a bit in reserve for later. Otherwise I always had it at 17/20. This bottle: 18/20.

A silky, fruity, fresh bouquet with blackcurrant, black berries, tobacco and currants. A balanced, velvety palate with a tightly knit structure, spicy aromatics, and a long, fresh finish. 18/20. Drink through 2034.

Logo on the cork: M Dark color, medium intensity and showing some evolution. Moderately aromatic nose with nuances of stewed fruit. The palate is rather mellow at first and aromatic, but with a light body.