2000 Château Mouton Rothschild 1er Grand Cru Classes – Pauillac

The 2000 Mouton Rothschild is at its best with about 24-48 hours of decanting. A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot, the wine offers a saturated ruby/purple colour and restrained but promising aromas of toast, coffee, liquorice, crème de cassis and roasted nuts. Dense, chewy and backward, with tremendous purity and density in addition to obvious toasted oak, it is full-bodied, powerful, tannic and backward. Twenty-four to 48 hours of aeration only hints at its ultimate potential.

This blockbuster will be exceptionally long-lived. It’s not as expressive as the other first growth Medocs, but give it time. As I predicted in my first report on the Millennium vintage (April 2001), you might expect Philippine de Rothschild to do something special with her 2000 presentation. She exceeded all expectations with a work of art.

Anyone whohas seen the extraordinary packaging of the 2000 Mouton Rothschild must surely realise that this is a brilliant achievement. The bottle is exceptional and probably has almost as much value empty as full! Its genius is obvious, but it’s what’s inside that counts!

The famous winery

The most famous Mouton wine of recent years is undoubtedly the iconic 2000 vintage.

Mouton Rothschild is one of the most famous and best wines in the world. The current Mouton part was bought by Baron de Brane in the 18th century and was called Château Brane-Mouton.

The Rothschild story began on 11 May 1853, the day Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild bought Château Brane-Mouton at auction. The estate, located in the heart of the Médoc, in Pauillac, was then renamed Château Mouton Rothschild. In 1922, Baron Philippe de Rothschild took over the management of the estate. In 1924, he decided to bottle the wine entirely at the château and at the same time to commission an artist to illustrate the label. Since 1945, the Château Mouton Rothschild label has been illustrated every year with an original work by a great contemporary artist. Dalí, César, Miró, Chagall, Warhol, Soulages, Bacon, Balthus, Tàpies, Koons, Doig … an exciting collection that is expanded with a new work every year and forms the famous exhibition “L’Art et l’Étiquette”.

As the emblem of the Pauillac appellation, this Premier Cru Classé allows the great wines of Bordeaux to shine throughout the world. Today, the three children of Baroness Philippine de Rothschild – Camille and Philippe Sereys de Rothschild and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild – run Château Mouton Rothschild.

The vineyard

Château Mouton Rothschild is a Pauillac wine from an 82-hectare vineyard located north-west of Bordeaux in the Médoc. The vines, which are on average 50 years old, grow on stony gravel soils that can absorb heat and release it again overnight, which favours the ripening of the grapes. These permeable soils lie on a clayey and gravelly subsoil and give the wines of Château Mouton Rothschild a unique strength, elegance and tannin structure.
The grape varieties consist of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

The wine

In a vintage as exceptional as 2000, the last great vintage of the 20th century, Château Mouton Rothschild decided to dress its great nectar in the most beautiful case. The little “bélier d’Augsbourg” (Augsburg ram) – the jewel of the Museum of Wine in Art and the emblem of the estate – was chosen to be reproduced directly in fine gold on each bottle.

The 2000 vintage

A cold and dry January preceded a warm and humid February, followed by a mild and mild March. The warm and moderately rainy conditions in May and June favoured rapid and even flowering. The summer began in July with cool and humid weather, before mild weather set in from mid-July. Although the intense summer heat slowed down the growth of the vineyards, the mild September with a few rain showers favoured high-quality ripening and good vine health.

Château Mouton Rothschild 2000 – Wine description and tasting recommendations

The famous wine critic Robert M. Parker 100/100 quotes:

“Perhaps the most beautiful packaging ever on a Bordeaux bottle, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild literally created a work of art in the gold-engraved 2000 Mouton Rothschild bottle. Of course, you can’t drink the glass, but this is a top flight Mouton Rothschild.

A rich, tannic, earthy style with plenty of crème de cassis and floral notes. The final blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot is a full-bodied wine with lots of coffee, earth, chocolaty notes and still plenty of tannin to resolve. I gave it a projected ageing range of 2015 to 2050 in 2003, and that seems to be on target.

Robert Parker 100 /100 points rating.

The 2000 Mouton Rothschild is at its best after about 4 – 6 hours of decanting.

A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot, the wine offers a rich ruby/purple colour and restrained but promising aromas of toast and coffee, liquorice, crème de cassis and roasted nuts. Dense, chewy and backward, with tremendous purity and density in addition to distinct toasted oak, it is full-bodied, powerful, tannic and backward. Aged for 24 to 48 hours. Aeration only hints at its ultimate potential.

This blockbuster will be exceptionally long-lived. It is not as expressive as the other first growth Medoc varieties, but give it time.

As I predicted in my first report on the Millennium vintage (April 2001), you can expect something special from Philippine de Rothschild with their 2000 presentation.

She has surpassed all expectations with a work of art. Anyone who has seen the extraordinary packaging of Mouton Rothschild 2000 must surely realise that this is a brilliant achievement.

The bottle is exceptional and probably as valuable empty as it is full! Its genius is obvious, but what matters is what’s inside and that’s the Kunstwerk 2000 Mouton Rothschild wine.

The Wine Advocate Robert M. Parker 100/100 points

“Perhaps the most beautiful packaging ever on a Bordeaux bottle, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild literally produced a work of art in the gold-engraved bottle of 2000 Mouton Rothschild. Of course, one can’t drink the glass, but this is a top-flight Mouton Rothschild.

A rich, tannic, earthy style, with loads of creme de cassis and floral notes, the final blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot is a full-bodied wine with plenty of coffee, earth, chocolatey notes, and still plenty of tannin to resolve. I gave it an anticipated maturity range of 2015-2050 back in 2003, and that looks on target.”

“The 2000 Mouton Rothschild is at its best with about 24-48 hours of decanting. A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot, the wine offers a saturated ruby/purple colour in addition to reticent but promising aromas of toast, coffee, licorice, creme de cassis, and roasted nuts.

Dense, chewy, and backward, with tremendous purity and density in addition to obvious toasty oak, it is full-bodied, powerful, tannic, and backward. 4 – 6 hours of aeration only hints at its ultimate potential. This blockbuster will be exceptionally long-lived. It is not as expressive as the other first-growth Medocs, but give it time.

I predicted in my first report on the millennium vintage (April, 2001), Philippine de Rothschild could be expected to do something special with her presentation of 2000. She has exceeded everyone’s expectations with a work of art. Those who have seen the extraordinary packaging of the 2000 Mouton Rothschild must certainly realise this is a brilliant achievement. The bottle is extraordinary, and likely to have nearly as much value empty as full! Her genius is obvious, but it’s what’s inside that counts and this is the a work of art Wine of 2000 Mouton Rothschild.