2021 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, France 750ml

Arriving in 2024.

A firm and compact Mouton with a powerful tannin frame for the vintage, yet it remains fine and precise as it opens to a velvety texture. Black fruit with tar, pencil lead and tobacco. Driven and firm. A little angular and tight at the moment.

Gorgeous deep pink purple rim to the glass. The nose is bright and intense, heady with perfumed aromatics and edges of graphite, cocoa and sweet red cherries. Such clarity on the palate, excellent tension from the get go with beautifully expressed cherry and strawberry fruit that has a soft, ripe fleshy core. The tannins are fine but plentiful, coating the mouth providing the structure and frame. This has such a sense of quiet confidence - it's not shouting so much but gently showing off its many layers of fruit, acidity, minerality and freshness. This really grows on you, expanding and deepening as the flavours travel across the palate, coming in waves. Understated and introverted at the moment but still harmonious and classy. I love it. (GH)

Deep garnet with purple accents around the rim. Asian spice, cedar, tobacco leaf, cocoa, licorice, flowers and blackberries, with black cherry and light notes of espresso show up with ease on the nose. The wine is full-bodied, with incredible polish, plushness and supple textures, yet it remains classic in style and character. Balanced on the corners of freshness, length, character and complexity. This is not a Mouton Rothschild that is about concentration, flamboyance and power. Instead it is focused on its purity, energy and refined, silky tannins. It is also not a vintage that will demand decades to develop into maturity. It should be gorgeous to drink with perhaps a decade of age, and will evolve for at least 2-3 decades after that with ease. The wine blends 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc, 13.1% ABV. The harvest took place September 25, finishing October 6. Drink from 2030-2060.