Description
Robert Parker: After stumbling over some wines I thought were high
class Bordeaux, I nailed this wine in one of the blind tastings for
this article. In most tastings where a great Bordeaux is inserted
with California Cabernets, the Bordeaux comes across as drier, more
austere, and not nearly as rich and concentrated (California wines
are inevitably fruitier and more massive). To put it mildly, the
1986 Mouton-Rothschild held its own (and then some), in a flight
that included the Caymus Special Selection, Stags Leap Wine Cellars
Cask 23, Dunn Howell Mountain, and Joseph Phelps Eisele Vineyard.
Clearly the youngest looking, most opaque and concentrated wine of
the group, it tastes as if it has not budged in development since I
first tasted it out of barrel in March, 1987. An enormously
concentrated, massive Mouton-Rothschild, comparable in quality, but
not style, to the 1982, 1959, and 1945, this impeccably made wine
is still in its infancy. Interestingly, when I was in Bordeaux
several years ago, I had this wine served to me blind from a magnum
that had been opened and decanted 48 hours previously. Even then,
it still tasted like a barrel sample! I suspect the 1986
Mouton-Rothschild requires a minimum of 15-20 more years of
cellaring; it has the potential to last for 50-100 years! Given the
outrageously high prices being fetched by so many of the great
1982s and 1990s (and lest I forget, the 1995 Bordeaux futures), it
appears this wine might still be one of the "relative bargains" in
the fine wine marketplace. I wonder how many readers will be in
shape to drink it when it does finally reach full maturity?
The tasting notes for this section are from two single blind
tastings, one conducted in May, 1996, in California, and the other
in June, 1996, in Baltimore.
Wine Specs
- Vintage: 1986
- Producer: Chateau Mouton Rothschild (Stained Label)
- Region: Bordeaux / Pauillac, France
- Volume: 750ml
- Case Size: 12/case
Supplier: WineCave (Dropship)
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