1979 Château Mouton Rothschild

WINE TALK
1

1979 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (12/14/2019)

Complex and exciting on the nose with spice, soil and cedar. On the palate supple, elegant and balanced with sweet juicy fruit, tobacco and some earth. Not very long and powerful but enjoyable and a pleasant surprise!! (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

2

Nice. I just had this last week and your bottle was better than mine. Mine was old and way past peak I scored it 82. Though those who like old wines liked it better than I. Fwiw, my note is here: https://www.intowine.com/reviews/1979-château-mouton-rothschild-france-bordeaux-pauillac-wine-review

Of course, at that age, every bottle is different. [cheers.gif]

3

Inspired me to pop open my last bottle of this. Earlier in the year I had one that was tired, but tonight it’s showing well.

Light bricking, little sediment. Fragrant nose of red plum, smoke, cedar and a floral element. Medium full body, crisp red fruit, sweet and tart on the palate, along with some leather . Single decant, immediately open, lovely bottle.

4

Was at a bacchanal lunch a few months ago where I was able to compare this to a ‘79 BV GdL I had brought. The Mouton was unfortunately very much past it’s prime. The BV was drinking wonderfully. YMMV, of course.

5

From my cellar in France, this is still drinking well, with plenty of cedary cassis fruit overlaid with classic Mouton espresso-roast oak. There is a little tannic asperity on the finish that marks this out as an “ambitious” effort in terms of extraction in a lighter vintage, but I am not going to fault the Château for trying.

For me, “off”, or at least forgotten, 1970s vintages of Mouton are some of the best values in mature first growth claret, and I pick them up quite regularly for a very reasonable tariff. Not the sort of wines to take to tastings, but lovely over dinner at home for two.