Composed of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 1998 Mouton Rothschild is deep garnet-brick in color with lovely crème de cassis, dried roses, hoisin and baking spice notes with underlying notions of dried cherries and mulberries plus touches of wood smoke, incense and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied and packed with rich fruit framed by firm, chewy tannins, it is stacked with complex, evolving flavors and finishes with incredibly long-lasting perfumed notes. According to winemaker Philippe Dhalluin, this needs about three hours of decanting at this stage. I simply love the place this wine is in right now, possessing plenty of mature, tertiary characters yet still sporting bags of fruit. It won’t be fading anytime soon either and should cellar nicely for 20-25+ more years.

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com, May 2018

Like many of its peers, the 1998 has filled out spectacularly. Now in the bottle, this opaque black/purple-colored offering has increased in stature, richness, and size. A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc (57% of the production was utilized), it is an extremely powerful, super-concentrated wine offering notes of roasted espresso, creme de cassis, smoke, new saddle leather, graphite, and licorice. It is massive, with awesome concentration, mouth-searing tannin levels, and a saturated flavor profile that grips the mouth with considerable intensity. This is a 50-year Mouton, but patience will be required as it will not be close to drinkability for at least a decade. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2050.

96 points, Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #134, Apr 2001)

Quality 906 | Brand 999 | Economics 975 | buzz brand
Quality: Predicted life of 18 years, one of the longest drinking windows in its peer group, which averages 9 years Brand: #1 Most sought after wine globally, with 93,283 searches on Wine-Searcher per month Economics: #1 most active wine at auction, its top 5 vintages having seen 5,632 75cl equivalent bottles traded in the past year Production: Higher production than its peer group average of 151,058 bottles

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017

The wine starts off with an array of layers in the perfume. Full-bodied and concentrated, with layers of fruit. But the finish is a bit clipped. The wine is very good, but the brief finish is a bit disappointing. Time will add complexities, but the finish is probably not going to get any better. Tasted July 2019

A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 1998 Château Mouton Rothschild comes from a vintage that saw beautiful early season weather but rain in September and October that made the vintage more complicated for the Médoc and Graves region. A more medium to full-bodied effort, it has terrific complexity in its red and black currant fruits as well as smoked tobacco, loamy earth, spice box, and chocolate. Balanced, elegant, and silky on the palate, its oak is perfectly integrated, it has fine tannins, and it’s smack in the middle of its prime drinking window. May 2023

In his Wine Buyer’s Guide to France, Robert Parker felt this was the finest Mouton since 1986. At Vivat Bacchus, this was the most variable wine of the tasting, with one bottled corked, two distinctly edgy and a little green. The best bottle (described here) was much better. Deep and intensely purple in colour, there is still plenty of concentration and potential for this Mouton to blossom further. Ripe red/black cherry aromas combined with warm, spicy oak. The issues at harvest time are most evident on the palate with slightly hard, furry tannins. Harvested 28 September to 6 October. 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc. 57% of production used for the Grand Vin. Drinking Window: 2022 - 2030
Tasted by: Andy Howard MW (at Red Herring Wine Club, London, 24 Sep 2021)
Part of Château Mouton Rothschild vertical: 1993 - 1999

(86% cabernet sauvignon, 12% merlot and 2% cabernet franc; pH 3.82; IPT 76; 12.3% alcohol; a 57% selection): Very deep saturated ruby. Archetypical cabernet sauvignon-dominated nose offers fresh blackcurrant, lead pencil and flowers complicated by strong spice notes. Bright and juicy on entry, with very pure flavors of dark berries, underbrush and dried herbs, then slightly austere and linear in the middle palate. Finishes with a lingering saline nuance and very good length. A very refined and impeccably balanced Mouton, but I would have liked a little bit more concentration and opulence for an even higher score. This classic Mouton possesses relatively high acidity and a solid tannic structure; it offers early accessibility but should age effortlessly for another 15 or 20 years. In 1998, after a couple years of experimentation, Mouton began to de-leaf in a systematic fashion on both sides of the vine rows. Another vintage with a large crop, 1998 featured an unsettled September with rain falling during the cabernet sauvignon harvest (one of the reasons why 1998 is widely considered a Right Bank year.) IDA Aug 2011

Tasted at the Claret Club Mouton-Rothschild dinner. The 1998 Mouton has a very deep garnet hue. The nose has good intensity and fine definition with blackberry, cassis, graphite and a touch of sous-bois. The palate is tight at first...”a dense ball of Pauillac stubbornness” are the exact words that I wrote. But it unwinds nicely: graphite and cedar interlacing the black fruit, almost brutal towards the finish that needs more persistency. This will been another 4-5 years in bottle. Tasted November 2010.

– eRobertParker.com, May 2011