Chateau Mouton Rothschild

Pauillac, 1er Cru Classé

A bottle of 1990 Château Mouton Rothschild from Bordeaux's Pauillac appellation sent by our reader and winelover Mr. Nikos Boudouris, whom we thank warmly.

 Climatic Conditions

The vegetation cycle started early following a mild winter. Budbreak took place between 7 and 17 March depending on the variety. Changeable weather in the spring – cold weather in March and April followed by high temperatures in May – caused early but slow flowering. Mid-flowering was observed on 21 May for the Merlot and Cabernet Franc and on 26 May for the Cabernet Sauvignon. June and July were dry; August remained dry and very hot, with several days of heatwave conditions. Veraison, like flowering, took place early but slowly; mid-veraison was observed between 3 and 11 August depending on the variety, causing the grapes to mature unevenly on some bunches. After elimination of the unevenly matured bunches, the crop showed exceptional potential. The grapes were in perfect condition, very ripe and deeply coloured. Fine weather in September meant that the harvest could take place under ideal conditions both for the maturity of the grapes and for picking.

The harvest was from 18 September to 3 October

Varietal mix  of: Cabernet Sauvignon 81 % Cabernet Franc 10 % Merlot 9 %

Tasting notes:

The wine has a brickish colour with an orange hue. The nose opens on smoky, roasted coffee-bean notes, followed by cardamom, cedarwood, tobacco and coffee, lifted by some peppery aromas. A full, flavoursome and complex attack leads into an intense and smooth mid-palate with plenty of heft, developing vegetal notes of tobacco and tea along with stewed and candied fruit flavours, underpinned by refined, creamy tannins. The finish is very long, on roasted and toasted flavours.

The artwork of the label created by Francis Bacon 

Francis Bacon, born in Dublin, the English artist Francis Bacon (1909-1992) claimed he did not find his style until 1945, with his “Three Studies of Figures at the Foot of a Crucifixion”. Acclaim came much later and it was not until the 1980s that Bacon gained recognition as one of the great painters of the century. Continuing to reject all official honors, he remained obstinately bohemian in his private life. His painting is impossible to pigeon-hole in any school: it celebrates naked flesh, virility, the male figure captured in a scathing isolation, racked by birth-pangs, agony or some vague sickness of being, between Greek tragedy and contemporary angst. “I have never”, he once said, “been able to paint a smile”.

Set against flat-painted backgrounds, often in very vivid colours, bodies stretch and contract as if in a distorting mirror, imprisoned in a network of geometric lines obeying no recognizable perspective.

A man who loved wine, Bacon created a weird, whirling dance about a wine-glass for the Mouton Rothschild 1990 label, distorting it to the curve of the bottle.

Special thanks to: Eve  Gueydon Mercadieu

Source: Chateau Mouton Rothschild

Photo Credit: Nikos Boudouris