Charlie Fu and I were having an offline discussion about Mouton after he bashed it to hell after another disappointing bottle of the 1983. Mouton is meh/bleh, he noted. When has Mouton ever really nailed it even 3 times in any 5 year period, or put forth a dominant decade of wine, relative to the vintage?
While I don’t think Mouton is meh/bleh, we did agree that it was generally, vintage to vintage, at the bottom of the first growth hierarchy. And distinctly so. I noted that Mouton was, in my opinion, something akin to Pichon Lalande, though perhaps historically at least a little bit better with more of those legendary wines, though I’ll take 82 Pichon Lalande over just about anything (or would have in prior years). Pichon Lalande makes very good wines in good vintages, occasionally struggles in less than stellar vintages and, perplexingly, occasionally shits the bed in sterling vintages. And isn’t that Mouton? High highs, lower lows, and quizzical disappointments?
Fu noted that Mouton, unlike Lalande, doesn’t demand first growth expectations. I think that’s a fair point.
So where should Mouton actually stand among the Bordelaise? What wines do you think, historically or in current style, that it most closely resembles? If we’re re-ranking today, taking into account that past 60 years of wines, is Mouton even close to a First Growth?