2004 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, Bottle (750ml)

WS95 "This shows lots of mulled spice, warm tobacco leaf and well-roasted cedar accents, but isn't short on fruit, offering enticing layers of red currant, plum and blackberry confiture. The long finish is riddled with sweet smoke, black tea and iron notes. A gorgeous wine from an overlooked vintage." JM for WS Mar 2017

DR95 "This astoundingly good wine tied Haut-Brion for top honours in our recent horizontal tasting of the 2004 vintage. The accessible bouquet was redolent of plum, blackcurrant, and spice, with an edge of leather and gunflint. The texture was silky and dense, with a plump, velvety length that was both hedonistic and subtle. This wine was the unanimous favourite in its flight, and demonstrated a youthful character that suggests that it has another 20 or 30 years of potential ageing." CC for DR Mar 2024

JS94 "I drank this 2004 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild the other night at home with some wine producers. I decanted it only right before serving - a mistake made while concentrating on the cooking food. On the nose there were coffee and chocolate aromas with hints of vanilla. It was super fruity, and its medium body was coupled with beautifully soft tannins. This is just coming around now and it's very New World in style. Overall, a much overlooked vintage from Mouton." JS Jun 2016

Robert Parker writes, "The 2004 Mouton-Rothschild was the first vintage for Philippe Dhalluin, who was so successful in persuading the late Philippine de Rothschild to institute a more strict selection with respect to Mouton-Rothschild. The outstanding 2004 exhibits delicious notes of cedarwood, Christmas fruitcake, blackcurrants and toast. The wine possesses outstanding concentration, medium to full body, excellent purity, hints of forest floor and underbrush, and sweet, velvety tannin. It is on a fast evolutionary track, so consume this over the next 10-15 years." Published: Dec 29, 2014