Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2008

$ 6,500.00

Appellation: Pauillac, Bordeaux

1855 Classification: First Growth

Vineyard: The Château Mouton Rothschild vineyard, mostly situated on a hillock called the “Plateau de Mouton” is planted on very deep gravelly soil with the varieties typical of the region: Cabernet Sauvignon (81%), Merlot (15%), Cabernet Franc (3%) and Petit Verdot (1%), with the blend varies according to the character of each vintage. Cabernet Sauvignon always predominates. It gives Mouton rich tannins, wealth of aroma and flavour and its ageing capacity, while Merlot, an inseparable companion, brings suppleness, roundness and exceptional length. As with other top Médoc wines, the vineyard is densely planted – 10,000 vines per hectare – and the average age of the vines is around 44 years.

Grape: 83 Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot

Yield: 34 hl/ha
Bottles produced: 240,000
Packing: case of 12 bottles, Original Wooden Case direct Ex-Chateau
Ageing & other info: 19-22 months in oak.  
Rating: Robert Parker 94-96 points
Maturity/Drink: 25+ years

Tasting Notes from the Chateau: “ With a very high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend once again, this Mouton Rothschild displays a very rich range of aromas and flavours throughout the tasting.

The first nose is intense and open: red fruit, blackberry and blackcurrant combine harmoniously with floral notes such as violet. On airing, roasted, toasted notes mingle graciously with delicate touches of cedar wood.

The palate opens with a lively, powerful and full-bodied attack, releasing silky, velvet tannins. Forward fruit on black berry flavours is set off by toasted notes and a delicious touch of vanilla, while the powerful and harmonious finish displays very attractive length.

Nature took its time in 2008, from vine-tending to vinification, but ultimately produced all the necessary ingredients to make a very fine wine indeed. “

Illustration of label: XU LEI

The Chinese painter Xu Lei was born in 1963 in Nantong, in Jiangsu province. He studied ink painting at the Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts and has remained faithful to the technique, while taking part in various avant-garde movements during the 1980s.

Both powerful and refined, combining the cosmic and the intimate, the symbolic and the figurative, Xu Lei’s poetic realism reflects a dual ambition: drawing on the traditional manner of the Song and Ming periods, with the meticulous attention to detail of the gongbi style, it also embraces more modern trends like surrealism and conceptual art.

Known throughout the world, Xu Lei’s work has been shown in Europe and the United States as well as in his native China. A resident of Beijing, Xu Lei teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts and is artistic director of the Today Art Museum, an important museum of contemporary art in the Chinese capital.
The drawing he has created for Mouton Rothschild 2008 takes up the theme of the ram, emblem of the illustrious First Growth. Perched on top of a delicately delineated rock, Xu Lei’s ram asserts the role of a great wine as a link between people and cultures, from one hemisphere to the other of “planet wine”.