The intensely ripe Cabernet Sauvignon grown on the plateau at Mouton has produced an inky/purple-colored wine with the famous Mouton creme de cassis and floral characteristics vividly displayed. For the first time in a number of years they appear to have outdistanced their cross street rival, the biodynamically farmed Chateau Pontet Canet of Alfred Tesseron. Wonderfully sweet tannins envelop the enormous fruit and extravagant richness of this full-bodied Mouton Rothschild. With profound density as well as surprisingly sweet tannin, this terrific effort will probably shut down slightly and require 5-8 years of cellaring after bottling. It appears to have 30 or more years of aging potential, making it potentially one of the 3 or 4 longest-lived wines of the vintage. 95-97 points

Tasted twice en primeur at Mouton-Rothschild. A blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc and 8% Merlot harvested from 1st October and finished on 15th October, with the best Cabernet Sauvignon picked between 8th and 12th October. This is the first vintage in the new facility – now there are 56 instead of 28 vats to make the selection. We can vinify plots that have never been vinified in isolation before. It has a very “classic” Mouton bouquet with small black cherries, blackberry, graphite and hints of vanilla lending it sweetness. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine, quite supple tannins. It is a very “correct” Mouton, without the flamboyance of the 2009 or 2010, but showing a little more delineation on the finish compared to the 2011. The aftertaste is long in the mouth with fine minerality – here we find the class and sophistication. This is an impressive, “stately” Mouton. 93-95 points