The 2000 Mouton Rothschild is mesmerizing. I had two modest pours (nine of us were sharing the bottle), and the first one was all red fruit, leather, tobacco and subtle wood spice. It was beautiful. The bottle had been opened eight hours ahead, but not decanted (p.s. I didn’t bring the bottle). About two hours later I noticed there was a good 1/3 of the bottle left, so I took another small pour. I smelled it, and was transported. I was no longer on the back patio, but instead inside an old, small, rustic Cape Cod Christmas shop. The aromas of brown spices, cedar, dried fruit, aged oak, salty air and worn antiques took me directly to Chatham, MA at age 11, wandering and looking, engrossed in the time I spent in a place that seemed so far away, but was only 4 hours from home.
That’s funny, as a couple of us were having that exact conversation last night. The 2000 tasted really good, but damn the smell was otherworldly!! I have a single bottle of the 1986 left. I think it’s going down soon.
Great post, David, and I agree with you all. Wouldn’t it be cool to have an active brain activity monitor going when taking that sniff of a wine like this? I imagine all of the firing synapses you’d see!