Chateau Mouton Rothschild

Château Mouton Rothschild is located in the commune of Pauillac in the Médoc, 50 km northwest of Bordeaux. The first wine (Grand vin) is among the highest-rated and most valued wines in the world and is generally considered the most distinctive and powerful of all Bordeaux wines. In 1973, it was famously added to the top category of First Growth (1er Cru) in the Bordeaux Classification of 1855.

The Château began its history as Brane-Mouton and was among the best in Bordeaux during the 18th and early 19th centuries, although there was a decline in quality and price in the 1840s. The Rothschild family bought (and renamed) the property in 1853 and quickly restored its reputation, but not in time for the 1855 Médoc wine classification, in which Mouton was only ranked as a Second Growth (2ème Cru). The wineries Lafite, Latour, Margaux, and Haut-Brion achieved First Growth status (1er Cru).

Baron Philippe de Rothschild took control in 1922, and in 1924 he introduced château bottling, which necessitated the construction of the iconic barrel room. At the end of World War II, he also initiated the annual commissioning of various artists to design the label. His greatest achievement, however, was the elevation of Mouton to First Growth status in 1973—the first change in the ranking order since 1855.

The estate includes 84 hectares of vineyards, mostly on gravelly soils, and is located in the northern part of the commune, south of Château Lafite Rothschild. Most of the vineyard is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (80%), with 16% planted with Merlot, and small plots of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The proportion of each variety in the first wine depends on the vintage, but Cabernet Sauvignon will always dominate due to its rich content of fine tannins.

The vineyard, typical of the best estates in the Médoc, is densely planted, and the average age of the vine plants is over 40 years. The harvest is carried out by hand, and the juice is fermented in oak barrels in a gravity-fed fermentation room opened in 2012. After fermentation, the wine matures for 18 months in new oak barrels before bottling.

Mouton Rothschild produces up to 350,000 bottles of wine each vintage, including the second wine, Le Petit Mouton, which was founded in 1993. It is made from grapes selected from younger vines, produced in the same Mouton barrels, and aged in oak barrels. In the early 1980s, about one hectare of white grapes was planted for the production of the very rare Aile d'Argent Bordeaux Blanc.