Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild 2018 - Red Dry Wine - Pauillac AC

Produced from an exceptional terroir, Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild is the second wine of Château Mouton Rothschild.

Made with grapes from selected younger vines in the illustrious First Growth vineyard, it is harvested, vinified and bottled with the same scrupulous attention to detail. Harvested in small, open baskets, fermented in the Mouton oak vats, matured in oak barrels in the traditional way, all the conditions are met for the wine to express the elegance and richness of a great Pauillac.

In order to link the second wine more closely with its famous elder, illustrated by great artists since 1945, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild has chosen a label for Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild inspired by a drawing by the famous poster artist Jean Carlu.

A variation on the theme of the vine, the powerfully coloured drawing combines sensual shape with the clean geometries of the Art Deco style. It was made in 1927, following the artist’s design in the same period for the label for Château Mouton Rothschild 1924.

The first vintage, 1993, was called Le Second Vin de Mouton Rothschild, but it has borne its definitive name (which has a family connotation, Petit Mouton being the name of Baroness Philippine’s residence in the heart of the estate) since the following year, 1994.

Tasting notes

The wine has a purplish colour shading to carmine at the rim.

The ample and expressive nose reveals aromas of ripe raspberry, cherry and redcurrant, complemented with airing by notes of white pepper and liquorice.

The ample, full-bodied and rich attack is underpinned by substantial, grippy tannins, while the dense and smoothly textured mid-palate pleasingly combines vanilla flavours with a crisp and succulent fruitiness, leading into a full and generous finish.

Harvest : From 10 Septembre to 3 October

Climatic conditions

The first half of 2018 was marked by heavy rainfall and severe hailstorms during the winter, followed by a much milder spring.

Cool temperatures in March were followed by a warm spell in April which favoured vegetation growth and brought the vines into flower slightly earlier than usual. This trend was confirmed from June onwards as hot and sunny weather resulted in the vine cycle being 5 days ahead of average.

In July, high humidity coupled with the summer heat made it difficult to keep the vines healthy, but constant care from our growers ensured that all the qualities of the vineyard were preserved. Fortunately, hot and dry weather then set in for three months, with temperatures sometimes reaching more than 30°C, ending the mildew attacks.

Although conditions in the first half of the year did not herald a great harvest, the record-breaking temperatures, low rainfall and relative drought that followed in the summer months rectified the situation. The grapes were small but outstandingly rich in sugar and tannins.

The advance in the vine cycle and the hot, dry summer meant that the harvest began in late August for the white grapes and early September for the red grapes.

At Château Mouton Rothschild, picking started with the Aile d’Argent parcels from 30 August to 5 September and continued with the red grapes from 10 September to 3 October.

The wines are intensely coloured and have excellent tannic structures. They are remarkably dense and smooth, with a rare concentration of aroma and flavour. Yields were smaller because of the drought, but the vintage can already be reckoned one of the great successes.

Vintage : 2018

Alcohol : 13%

Region : Bordeaux

Appellation : Pauillac AC

Varietal mix : 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc