CHÂTEAU MOUTON ROTHSCHILD
2020 1er Cru Classé Pauillac
Market Insight: Perhaps the bargain of the 2019 vintage, if Mouton can strike the same oil this year, then it will be snapped up again. That said, if the quality remains, then it would be worth buying up to £2,200 (which is where the 2019 now sits) and perhaps beyond - after all, the 2016 is now over £2,800/6.L&S (May 2021)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
The purity of blackcurrants, blueberries, creme de cassis, and flowers. Hints of subtle spearmint. Iron. Blood orange. Medium-bodied with a compacted palate, like a cylinder of perfectly ripe fruit and fine tannins. A million layers of tight-grained tannins. It goes on and on. Such freshness and weightlessness to it. Ethereal. New classicism. Modern take on the 1986. 12.79% alcohol. 84% cabernet sauvignon, 13% merlot, 2% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. Drink after 2030 but hard to not drink now. Rating: 100 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2023)
The 2020 Mouton Rothschild is very clearly one of the great, great wines of the Left Bank in 2020. All the elements are in perfect balance. A wine of total sensuality and nuance, Mouton is all finesse in 2020, all elegance. An explosion of dark cherry fruit, plum, pomegranate, mint and cinnamon are all amplified. From barrel, the 2020 Mouton hinted at greatness. Today, that greatness is evident. The rich, vibrant finish is a thing of beauty. Drinking range: 2030 - 2060 Rating: 99 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Mouton Rothschild has a taut and fresh bouquet, vibrant black fruit, cedar and graphite - wonderful mineralité that floods through in this First Growth. This is a less flamboyant than the 2019, yet arguably more sophisticated and terroir-driven. The palate is medium-bodied with fine filigree tannins, an unerring sense of symmetry here, gradually building in the mouth towards a distinctively classically styled and quite persistent finish, pencil lead lingering on the aftertaste. This is an outstanding/upstanding Mouton-Rothschild. Drinking range: 2028 - 2055 Rating: 97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Mouton Rothschild is sensual, delicate and polished. Bright floral notes lead into a core of sweet red cherry, cedar, mint, anise and blood orange. In 2020, the Mouton is a wine of unreal elegance and finesse. I can't wait to taste it from bottle, as I think there may be much more to it than it’s showing today. Technical director Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy noted that the 2020 was slow to extract because of its low alcohol (13.1%) compared with recent vintages. Drinking range: 2035 - 2060 Rating: 96-98 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)
The 2020 Mouton Rothschild is an intriguing proposition, aromatically speaking. Initially, it is less forthcoming than the last three vintages, but it’s just toying with you, eventually releasing captivating scents of blackberry, raspberry, crushed stone, touches of India ink and traces of violet petal. The oak is seamlessly integrated and these aromatics grow in stature with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with very lithe and finely chiseled tannins that frame the pixelated black fruit. Displaying wonderful mineralité and tension, this is a less exuberant and lavish Mouton Rothschild, perhaps, but more cerebral and intellectual than this First Growth during the 1990s. As smooth as Snoop Dogg's flow, this is a marvelous Mouton. Drinking range: 2026 - 2060 Rating: 96-98 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)
Dense purple-hued and a monster of a wine, the 2020 Château Mouton Rothschild checks in as 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, all of which hit 13.1% natural alcohol with a pH of 3.78. Classic Mouton notes of cassis and currant fruits give way to a more mineral-driven red offering loads of scorched earth, graphite, liquid violets, and crushed stone aromas and flavors. Gorgeously concentrated, full-bodied, and structured, with a firm tannic, inward style that relents with time in the glass, this is a serious Mouton that's going to need a decade of cellaring yet should be just about immortal. Rating: 97-99 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)
I urge you to read my tasting note on Le Petit Mouton before this one because it sets the scene perfectly for this wine. Dark, rich, layered, precise, composed, calm, aerial, sensational, epic, classic, resplendent, perfumed, refreshing, bright, great and measured are all words I noted down when I tasted this thrilling wine. In a vintage where alcohol levels vary by up to 2.5%, this is one of the slimmest and yet it is also one of the sexiest wines of all. 2020 Mouton carries so much spectacular Cabernet flavour along in this lithe, athletic framework is it truly mesmerising. The lift on the nose, the penetration and accuracy of the flavour and the prodigious length are all awe-inspiring and magical at the same time. While the weather conditions have given every estate in the region a set of baffling challenges in this vintage, it seems like this wine was assembled with all of the time in the world, by precision watchmakers such is the detail and beauty on display. I think that this is a classic Mouton, but there are so many and they are all so different. And that alone is the trick. If you take what nature gives you and build it, with no compromises whatsoever, into as stunning a creation as possible that is all anyone could ask for and in 2020 Mouton has done just this. Rating: 19.5+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (May 2021)
The tannins are carefully wrapped up and finessed, slowly but surely building in power and width, with concentrated blue and black fruits through the palate. Cabernet Sauvignon is dominant on the attack, with a deft, savoury and not overly exuberant delivery of flavour. As the slate and saline side builds up, you also feel a slowing down and a tugging back of the tannins. As the wine relaxes in the glass, it becomes more and more signature Mouton, full of exuberance, finesse and pleasure. There is less sweet black cherry fruit than in a year like 2018 or 2019, more on the cassis and bilberry side, it will behave in a more classical manner in the decades to come. 100% new oak. Harvest September 7 to 24. 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. Could go to 100 points after ageing. Drinking range: 2030 - 2050 Rating: 98 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)
84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. First vintage with Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy (formerly winemaker at Clerc Milon) at the helm. Cask sample. Characteristic Mouton with its aromatic complexity and lift. Cassis, spice, chocolate and graphite notes to the fore. Lovely density of fruit. Powerfully structured with very fine tannins. A sense of verticality as it builds on the palate. Textured, clean and fresh. Clearly has more to give. Drinking range: 2030 - 2055 Rating: 18.5 James Lawther MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2021)
Château Mouton Rothschild
1855 classification (revised 1973) - Premier Grand Cru Classé The Ségur family, who owned at one time both Lafite and Latour, and had a hand briefly in Haut Brion, also owned Mouton for two years. They sold it to Joseph de Brane in 1720 and the estate was re-christened Brane-Mouton. Unfortunately, it was an estate without a château, the buildings having been sold seperately to Dominique Armailhacq and forming the nucleus of what is today Château d'Armailhac. Under the de Brane family, Mouton steadily gathered a reputation for its wine, with prices nearly equalling the best estates of the day. The de Branes sold Mouton in 1830 and the new owners failed to keep up the previous high standards. In 1853, Brane-Mouton became Mouton-Rothschild when Nathaniel Rothschild purchased the estate, and Mouton-Rothschild started its steady rise to become one of the world's iconic wines. Not iconic enough in 1855 to be granted Premier Grand Cru Classé - a slight described by Baron Phiippe as "the monstrous injustice". It was said that the recent sale of the estate to an Englishman prevented Mouton's recognition among the elite, the truth is probably more complicated. However, the "monstrous injustice" was corrected in 1973 with a unprecedented revision of the 1855 classification raising Château Mouton Rothschild to First Growth status. The Rothschild era at Mouton has seen continuous improvement. Astoundingly, it took until the latter half of the 19th Century for anyone to build an actual château at Mouton-Rothschild when Baron James built the Petit Mouton. An iconic estate deserves an iconic character, and he arrived in 1922 when Baron Philippe de Rothschild toopk over, assuming full ownership in 1947 when he bought out his brothers. A new chais was built and all of the wines were estate bottled, something not common at the time. Baron Philippe bought the neighbouring Château Mouton-Armailhacq in 1933, renaming it Château Mouton Baron Philippe (now Château d'Armailhac). From younger vines of his two estates, Baron Philippe created the popular Bordeaux brand Mouton Cadet. To celebrate the end of WWII, during which time Baron Philippe had had to escape from Vichy imprisonment to join the Free French forces in England, and the German military had taken over Château Mouton Rothschild, the 1945 vintage was bottled with a "V for Victory" label. Thereafter, a new label was designed every year by a contemporary artist, the labels becoming every bit as collectable as the wine. The vineyards sit on a raised mound known as a "motte", from which it is presumed the name Mouton derives. Mouton-Rothschild sits immediately to the south of Lafite. For red wines the 75ha of vineyards are planted to 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc with a little Petit Verdot. Wines are fermented in barrique and aged for 22 months before bottling. A second wine was introduced in 1993 - Le Petit Mouton with old-fashioned looking label that was designed by Jean Carlu who had designed the Mouton-Rothschild label in use before the War. A small amount of white wine - Aile d'Argent - is produced from mostly Sauvignon Blanc.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.
Ordering
Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.
Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.
Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (at LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery of 2024 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2027. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.
Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-
- +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
- +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
- +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.
Storage Options:
Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2027. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.