97pts Decanter

Still remarkably dark, intense and youthful in appearance, this Mouton shows more flamboyant characters on the nose than other vintages, with spices, cigar-box and blackcurrant leaf all to the fore. Rich, dense and fleshy palate with plenty of stuffing for further ageing. An impressive Mouton which lives up to the ‘star’ billing for the 1995 vintage with nearly all of the components in great balance.

95pts James Suckling
This explodes on the nose with prunes, blackberries, mushrooms and fresh tobacco. Full body, ripe tannins and a juicy finish. Big and powerful.

95pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 19% Merlot, it reveals an opaque purple color, and reluctant aromas of cassis, truffles, coffee, licorice, and spice. In the mouth, the wine is "great stuff," with superb density, a full-bodied personality, rich mid-palate, and a layered, profound finish that lasts for 40+ seconds. There is outstanding purity and high tannin, but my instincts suggest this wine is lower in acidity and slightly fleshier than the brawnier, bigger 1996. Both are great efforts from Mouton-Rothschild. 

95pts Vinous
Deep, brooding, rich aromas of blackberry, violet, milk chocolate, black pepper, cedar and incense; sexy and captivating. Bright and focused on entry, then rich, very smooth and suave, with highly concentrated flavors of red berries, dark plum, cedar and graphite. The extremely long, juicy finish features lively acids, great balance and persistent notes of underbrush and minerals. The mounting tannins coat the palate dry and are still years away from resolving fully. Harvested from September 12 through 27, which suggests that the Merlot was probably very ripe. According to Tourbier, 'We included a bit more Merlot than usual because we felt the Cabernet Sauvignon had particularly tough tannins in 1995 and we didn't want to risk making too tough or structured a wine. So we used the Merlot to soften it up a bit.' The estate was so happy with the quality of the wine (and the rather high 95% selection for the grand vin speaks volumes), said Tourbier, that they only made 15 barriques of the second wine Petit Mouton, which was launched with the 1993 vintage. A huge volume year, 1995 was characterized by very fine weather through most of the growth cycle but was marred by September rains. 

94pts Wine Spectator
Aromas of ripe fruit and grilled meat follow through to a full-bodied palate, with velvety tannins and a long caressing finish. Very beautiful wine.

Jancis Robinson
Even darker than the 1996, this Mouton is still remarkably youthful in appearance. More flamboyant on the nose, with cigar-box, spices and leafy blackcurrant notes all evident. There is plenty of concentration and weight for further ageing, although the tannins are a little dry – perhaps a reflection of the harvest conditions. Still a very impressive Mouton. 18/20 points

About the Label Artwork

The Catalan painter and sculptor Antoni Tàpies was born in Barcelona in 1923, where he was brought up in an intellectual environment. His life and work are firmly rooted in his native city.

It was in Barcelona that he completed his studies, in law as well as drawing, and founded in 1948, the art review, Dau al Set; there also that he met the painter Miro, who played an influential part in his brief flirtation with Surrealism. More important, however, in his development as an artist was his discovery of Eastern philosophies and, during his stay in Paris, of

"Art Informel" with Dubuffet, Fautrier and others. After his first one-man exhibition in Barcelona in 1950 he soon achieved international recognition and his work was shown all over the world

He won prestigious awards: the Venice Biennale in 1958 and 1993, the Picasso Medal in 1993, and France's National Painting Prize in 1985. In 1083 Barcelona not only commissioned a monumental sculpture entitled

"Homage to Picasso", but also gave him a building in which to house the Antoni Tàpies Foundation, inaugurated in 1990. Tàpies is now considered one of the leading contemporary artists and his works are found in all the great museums.

Through his fusion of Eastern and Western influences, Tàpies develops a distinctive style which provokes a disturbing, unspoken dialogue between man and matter, where the spiritual struggles with stark reality.

Rough earth-coloured backgrounds where paint is mixed with various substances (sand, fabric, marble, plaster, wire, rope) appear to be "walls" which have been slashed, cut and inscribed with hieroglyphics of a primordial language. Tapies' art is impossible to place within a particular movement, reflecting as it does an image of chaos tamed, which powerfully expresses the preoccupations of the world we live in. He himself defines his works as "battlefields where wounds are multiplied to infinity".

A nose, two hearts, a mouth, an eye: the scarlet design, conceived and annotated by Tàpies for the Mouton Rothschild 1995 label, proclaims, with a smile, that feast of the senses which promises a great wine.

Winery Description

A First Classified Growth, Château Mouton Rothschild spans 82 hectares (202 acres) of vines at Pauillac in the Médoc, planted with the classic varieties of the region: Cabernet Sauvignon (79%), Merlot (17%), Cabernet Franc (3 %), Petit Verdot (1 %). The average age of the vines is 50 years.

The estate benefits from exceptionally favourable natural conditions, in the quality of the soil, the position of its vines and their exposure to the sun. Combining respect for tradition with the latest technology, it receives meticulous attention from grape to bottle. The wine is matured in new French oak barrels.

Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild is the second wine of Château Mouton Rothschild.

The estate also comprises 6 hectares (15 acres) of sandy, gravelly soil planted with Sauvignon Blanc (51%), Semillon (40%) and Sauvignon Gris (9%), used to make its white wine, Aile d’Argent.

Brought to the pinnacle by two exceptional people, Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) then his daughter Baroness Philippine (1933-2014), its destiny has now been taken in hand by her three children: Camille and Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild. True to their grandfather’s and mother’s work, all three are committed, with the same enthusiasm and determination, to perpetuating Baron Philippe’s dictum: “Live for the vine”. Almost a command, it means being there for the vineyard in good times and in hardship, serving it with skill and honouring it with art.

Château Mouton Rothschild is a place of art and beauty, famous for the spectacular vista of its great barrel hall, its remarkable vat room and its Museum of Wine in Art. Every year since 1945, the Château Mouton Rothschild label has been illustrated with an original artwork by a great contemporary artist. Dalí, César, Miró, Chagall, Warhol, Soulages, Bacon, Balthus, Tàpies, Koons and Doig are only some of the artists featured in a fascinating collection to which a new work is added each year and which makes up the Paintings for the Labels exhibition.