2004 Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux

Château Mouton Rothschild is world renowned for its labels. Each vintage since 1945 has featured the work of a celebrated artist. For the 2004 vintage, the late Baroness Philippe de Rothschild approached the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III; one of his watercolours adorns the label. This is a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Two decades on from the vintage, this is a complex, maturing Claret from one of the region’s very best producers.

Tasting note

This astoundingly good wine tied Haut-Brion for top honours in our recent horizontal tasting of the 2004 vintage. The accessible bouquet was redolent of plum, blackcurrant, and spice, with an edge of leather and gunflint. The texture was silky and dense, with a plump, velvety length that was both hedonistic and subtle. This wine was the unanimous favourite in its flight, and demonstrated a youthful character that suggests that it has another 20 or 30 years of potential ageing.

Charles Curtis MW, Decanter.com (March 2024)