Chateau Mouton Rothschild Red Dry Wine 2015 - Pauillac Premier Grand Cru Classe

Vintage : 2015

Alcohol : 13.5%

Region : Bordeaux

Appellation : Pauillac 1e Grand Cru AC

Varietal mix : 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc

Tasting notes

The wine has an attractive, deep and dark colour with a purple tint.

The refined and elegant nose reveals fruity wild blackberry and bilberry aromas. Notes of toast, liquorice and blond tobacco then emerge to fill out a rich and complex range of aromas.

The fresh, full-bodied and slightly saline attack shows great intensity, opening on smooth and creamy tannins which enfold a silky texture lifted by a touch of minerality.

The impression on the palate is very full, rich in ripe fruit and peppery spice flavours. An exceptionally long finish concludes a remarkably balanced wine.

Harvest : 14 September to 2 October 2015

Climatic conditions

Although 2015 was slightly warmer than average, it was above all very dry (706 mm of rain, compared with an annual average of 862 mm), especially between February and July, from budbreak to veraison. As a result the berries remained small, which explains why the yield was rather low even though we had hopes of a normal crop after flowering.

Higher-than-average rainfall in August and September helped to prevent the ripening process from coming to a halt in a vineyard already stressed by the lack of water. Consequently the grapes matured at rather different rates from one parcel to another, according to the terroir, the grape variety and the age of the vines.

In order to ensure that each variety and each parcel was picked at optimum maturity, the harvest period was the longest in living memory. It lasted 23 days between our three estates, from the first Merlots on 14 September to the last Cabernet Sauvignons on 6 October.

The grapes were magnificent and fermentation took place quickly. The wines immediately showed plenty of colour and a complete array of very intense aromas ranging from red and black fruit to spice and incense.

The tannins are generally very well-rounded, dense and seamlessly smooth. After blending, the wines still have the same aromatic intensity and complex, full-bodied structures which barrel-maturing should further enhance.

Our 2015 vintage in Pauillac is very similar in its heft and opulence to the 2005 vintage.

Illustration of the label

Gerhard Richter (1932-)

The label for the 2015 vintage, with its slightly altered look, bears the hallmark of the new generation that has succeeded Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who passed away in 2014: Camille Sereys de Rothschild, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild. It is signed by Philippe Sereys de Rothschild on behalf of the three family owners.

The commission for the illustration of the 2015 vintage was given to the German artist Gerhard Richter, born in 1932, a remarkable inventor of pictorial forms and techniques. With a worldwide reputation, he bases his work on the dialectical relationship between painting and photography, representation and abstraction.

His work for Mouton is the result of a process, which he calls Flux, that is both random and carefully prepared. The artist fixes moving colours in a photograph, taken at the ideal moment of their composition, just as a harmonious blend gives a great wine – a living creation – its balance and fullness.