The wine is a dark and intense red with a blueish tint. With Cabernet Sauvignon predominant, it displays a complex range of aromas. From lightly toasted vanilla notes, the nose opens with airing to reveal fruit aromas, especially blackcurrant and black cherry. Powerful and well-integrated tannins reveal exceptional depth and roundness on the palate, ending on a fresh and mineral finish. Length, elegance, harmony: Mouton Rothschild 2010 promises to be a remarkable vintage – and a worthy successor to the 2009!

Blend: 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot

Critical Acclaim

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JS 100

James Suckling

This is pure Cabernet Sauvignon magic with incredible aromas of currants, blackberries and light spices. Tiny hints of hazelnut. Wet earth. Full body, with super velvety tannins. The purity of fruit is breathtaking. It goes on for minutes. This is 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot. Try after 2020.

WW 100

Wilfred Wong of Wine.com

People always ask me: What do you do with your wine notes and why do you take so many photographs? Well, I am as crazy as anyone could be about wine, wine history and what wine means to all of us. As I enter the twilight of my life, I am beginning more and more to believe that I was born to tell the story of wine. Every time I visit a vineyard, I feel different, as if the grapes on the vines are talking to me. I had visited Château Mouton Rothschild on many occasions, but in the spring of 2011, the visit was simply magical. As I sipped the barrel sample of the 2010 Château Mouton Rothschild, I recounted the many times before when I was slightly underwhelmed. This of course is ironic since this is of the grandest wine properties in all the world. But here I was, ready for one of the greatest wine moments in my life. A look, a swirl and a sip later, I was transported into another space and time and now into the 4th dimension. The wine was so amazing, and immediately became my highest rated Bordeaux barrel sample. I gave the wine 99-100 points. Now three years later, I find myself in a perfect job with a new company. I loved my old guys and they took care of me well, but in my newly created position of Chief Storyteller at Wine.com, I found myself in a spot with tasting greater opportunities including a moment in front of a finished bottled of the 2010 Château Mouton Rothschild. I knew I would love the wine, but there were so many famous Bordeaux in the room including Ducru-Beaucaillou, Pichon Lalande, Palmer, and others, that my senses were on overload. Many of these wines were poured. I had also tasted out of barrel in 2011. The anticipation was almost too much. The wine performed magnificently and had reached the pinnacle I had expected. Deep and dark in color as it had been out of the barrel, a miraculous aroma of black currant, steel, chalk and oak, nicely melded and talking to me like no other wine; medium bodied, yet firm, robust and elegant in stature; rich flavors, just beginning to reveal themselves, black fruit, violets, sweet oak, vanilla, mineral and all of those usual suspects, gently folding into each other; long finish, loads of sweet tannins to secure its longevity. Are there any perfect wines? Maybe not, but this is one of the very finest wine experiences ever, from a newly hatched barrel sample in Bordeaux to the finished wine in a bottle in San Francisco, the 2010 Château Mouton Rothschild is of the greatest wines ever! (Tasted: April 28, 2014, San Francisco, CA)

WS 99

Wine Spectator

This remains the stunner, a battleship of a wine, brimming with cassis, blackberry and fig fruit that has melded together now, with the backdrop of alder, bay leaf and menthol starting to emerge a bit more. The long finish is loaded with grip, pulling the fruit and other components together. And then there's that flash of iron at the very end. Awesome wine.—Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical

RP 99

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Tasted at the Mouton-Rothschild vertical in London, the 2010 Mouton-Rothschild is a modern-day benchmark for the First Growth and here, side-by-side with the 2009, it certainly has its nose in front. It is in possession of quite breathtaking delineation and precision, a crystalline bouquet with black fruit laced with minerals, potent pencil shaving notes, a touch of cold slate. It is totally entrancing. The palate has beguiling symmetry, but for me what really distinguishes this Mouton is its effortlessness. Like watching Usain Bolt in his prime sprinting to another world record, this wine is almost self-effacing in terms of its brilliance. Will Philippe Dhalluin ever better this Mouton-Rothschild? Keep it in the cellar for 15 years, if you know what's good for you. Tasted May 2016.

WE 98

Wine Enthusiast

A dense, smooth and opulent wine bursting with ripe Cabernet Sauvignon flavors. It's regal and well structured, balancing the natural exuberance of Mouton with a more severe side. This is a wine with power, yet not without its charms from the fruitiness and final acidity. This great wine will age many, many years. Cellar Selection.

Chateau Mouton Rothschild

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Château Mouton Rothschild, a Premier Cru Classé from the Bordeaux region and one of the world's greatest wines, is owned by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild. The estate includes 205 acres of vines at Pauillac planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (77%), Merlot (11%), Cabernet Franc (10%) and Petit Verdot (2%).

In 1853, Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild bought Château Brane-Mouton. In 1922, his great-grandson Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) decided to take the future of the estate into his own hands. His 65 years at Mouton bear witness to the strength of his personality, his spirit of enterprise and his sense of innovation.

In 1922, he was the first to introduce château bottling. In 1926, he built the famous Grand Chai, the majestic 100-meter first year cellar, which has become a major attraction for visitors to Mouton. 1945 marked the start of a fascinating collection of works of art, created every year for the Mouton label by famous painters. In 1973, after a twenty-year battle, Baron Philippe obtained a revision of the 1855 classification and Mouton was officially recognized as a First Growth.

In 1988, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild succeeded her father Baron Philippe. She has become the guarantor of the quality of an illustrious wine whose motto proudly proclaims, "First I am, second I was, I Mouton do not change."

Pauillac

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The leader on the Left Bank in number of first growth classified producers within its boundaries, Pauillac has more than any of the other appellations, at three of the five. Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild border St. Estephe on its northern end and Chateau Latour is at Pauillac’s southern end, bordering St. Julien.

While the first growths are certainly some of the better producers of the Left Bank, today they often compete with some of the “lower ranked” producers (second, third, fourth, fifth growth) in quality and value. The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification that goes back to 1855. The finest chateaux in that year were judged on the basis of reputation and trading price; changes in rank since then have been miniscule at best. Today producers such as Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste, Chateau Lynch-Bages, among others (all fifth growth) offer some of the most outstanding wines in all of Bordeaux.

Defining characteristics of fine wines from Pauillac (i.e. Cabernet-based Bordeaux Blends) include inky and juicy blackcurrant, cedar or cigar box and plush or chalky tannins.

Layers of gravel in the Pauillac region are key to its wines’ character and quality. The layers offer excellent drainage in the relatively flat topography of the region allowing water to run off into “jalles” or streams, which subsequently flow off into the Gironde.

Bordeaux Blends

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One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World, especially in California, Washington and Australia. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, these are sometimes referred to in the US as “Meritage” blends. In Bordeaux itself, Cabernet Sauvignon dominates in wines from the Left Bank of the Gironde River, while the Right Bank focuses on Merlot. Often, blends from outside the region are classified as being inspired by one or the other.

In the Glass

Cabernet-based, Left-Bank-styled wines are typically more tannic and structured, while Merlot-based wines modeled after the Right Bank are softer and suppler. Cabernet Franc can add herbal notes, while Malbec and Petit Verdot contribute color and structure. Wines from Bordeaux lean towards a highly structured and earthy style whereas New World areas (as in the ones named above) tend to produce bold and fruit-forward blends. Either way, Bordeaux red blends generally have aromas and flavors of black currant, cedar, plum, graphite, and violet, with more red fruit flavors when Merlot makes up a high proportion of the blend.

Perfect Pairings

Since Bordeaux red blends are often quite structured and tannic, they pair best with hearty, flavorful and fatty meat dishes. Any type of steak makes for a classic pairing. Equally welcome with these wines would be beef brisket, pot roast, braised lamb or smoked duck.

Sommelier Secret

While the region of Bordeaux is limited to a select few approved grape varieties in specified percentages, the New World is free to experiment. Bordeaux blends in California may include equal amounts of Cabernet Franc and Malbec, for example. Occassionally a winemaker might add a small percentage of a non-Bordeaux variety, such as Syrah or Petite Sirah for a desired result.

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