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. 89% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot and 1% cabernet franc.
May 2022

The 2021 Mouton Rothschild is a terrific wine in the making, unfurling in the glass with aromas of cherries and wild berries mingled with notions of violets, espresso roast, pipe tobacco and mint. Medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless, it's a layered, enveloping wine that's ample and concentrated, with succulent acids, melting tannins and a long, resonant finish. A blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc that attained 13.1% alcohol, this is a demonstrative, sensual Mouton that's the fruit of extreme selection, and that may well make my score seem conservative with further élevage. Bravo to the talented Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy and his team.
William Kelley, April 2022

Jewel-ruby in colour, crystalline reflections. This is less exuberant than a usual Mouton, more of a classic Pauillac with intensity and depth through the palate. Plenty of grip and length, with rich layers of raspberry and blackberry fruits and curls of gunsmoke, liqourice and cocoa bean, giving hints of a more generous wine that should be released further over ageing. Focused and supple. 100% new oak. 3.73ph, 59IPT, 41hl/h yield. Harvest September 25 until October 6. The first vintage where it was Jean-Emmauel Danjoy from beginning to end, after Philippe Dhalluin's retiremement. 41% of overall production in Mouton. Strong candidate for an upscore in bottle.
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, May 2022

The 2021 Mouton Rothschild is a potent, tightly wound Pauillac that will need a number of years to come together. Driving in its intensity, with searing tannins, the 2021 comes across as a bit severe today, with less of the charm and sensuality that is such a Mouton signature. That said, I was not thrilled with the quality of either of the two samples of the Grand Vin I tasted.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2022

The 2021 Mouton Rothschild marks a return to the classic style of this First Growth after three hot vintages. Unsurprisingly, the Cabernet Sauvignon takes control and expresses cigar smoke and graphite aromas. This is very well defined, yet examining the wine over several minutes, I was searching in vain for that "magic touch" exuded in recent vintages. The palate is beautifully-knit, quite edgy on the opening, comparatively slender and markedly sapid. Unapologetically linear on the finish, it is as if the growing season snipped off the frills that defines a great Mouton-Rothschild. This is a very fine First Growth, yet I hope it just gains a bit of weight and, to use a more accurate word, "presence", during the remainder of its barrel maturation. 13.1% alcohol Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2022

Tight, dark fruits, hints of floral aromatics, graphite and nori. Quite dense, intense tannins which carry some freshness, energy and drive. Fruit is currently somewhat subdued, in the blackcurrant and red cherry vein, but there is an elegant, seamless mouthfeel and a good sense of freshness. Fine, savoury, digestible and well poised.
April 2022

This is a captivating Mouton, and the perfume alone is enough to stop you in your tracks. Exotically nuanced with chypre, fresh tobacco and spices leading the way, this aromatic fanfare does an extraordinary job of offsetting the simply epic fruit notes. The ‘anti-fruit’ balances perfectly the super-luxe Cabernet-dominant juiciness making it seem less exuberant and more innately sophisticated. There is no wine in the world like Mouton, and there is no flavour in 2021 like this wine. The stars have aligned here, and beyond the arrestingly pure Cabernet comes deliciously toothsome tannin. Super-fine, rhythmically abrasive and amazingly classy, I could eat these tannins off a spoon, they are so hedonistically appointed. This is a wine built from the tannins up, and yet it is not a skyscraper, nor is this a skyscraper vintage. It is a thrillingly complex and labyrinthine creation with so many twists and turns of flavour, and none of them flashy or ostentatious, that it keeps you guessing from the start to the very end. It is an old soul in a young body or old vines in a new wine. It is also the epitome of the vintage itself – a triumph.
May 2022

Blackcurrant and cranberry notes indicate the dominance of Cabernet in the blend. Meaty but fresh on the palate, the tannins silky and dense. Plenty of substance here, the fruit generous, the tannins firm, providing length on the finish. Rich, within the context of the vintage, but fresh at the same time. Looks to have staying power. (JL) 13.1%
Drink 2030 – 2050
Jancisrobinson.com, May 2022