Another ultra-classic, virtually perfect Mouton from this team, the 2023 Château Mouton Rothschild sports a darker plum/purple hue as well as stunning aromatics of blackcurrants, graphite, chocolate, spicy wood, and smoke. It's rich, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated on the palate, with ripe, polished tannins, beautiful overall balance, no hard edges, and a great finish. It's a sensational 2023 with so much to love, and I'd gladly drink a bottle today, yet this will age gracefully for 30-40 years. Drink 2026-2060.

This is the most structured Mouton since the great 2016, with tannins that start slowly and then take off. It’s muscular and toned. It’s full-bodied but doesn’t come across too heavy. It builds up in intensity and goes on and on and on. It just keeps expanding. I took a double take here. 93% cabernet sauvignon and 7% merlot.

High Cabernet, and the grape is dominant not just in blend but character, totally delicious, with tension, flesh, and confidence, building layers of black fruits, graphite, cocoa bean, espresso, pomegranate and smoked earth throughout the palate. When Cabernet works at Mouton, it is hard to beat, and it's on full display in 2023. One of my clear wines of the vintage. Of any vintage. 100% new oak for ageing. 40% grand vin, harvest September 7 to 30.

Gorgeous red and black fruit on the nose, ripe strawberries, cherries and blackcurrants, really fruit forward and expressive, not so much on the mineral or floral side. Smooth and supple, this is agile and has great movement. A sense of life, depth and richness, but this is so suave. The fruit and tannins fill the mouth but with wonderful coolness - blueberry and crisp cherry. Lots of liquorice and wet stones also come through; graphite, chalk, mint, a touch of toastiness on the finish. It has flashes of exoticism, as well as finesse. Structure and seriousness but with bounce, full of texture and nuance. Tannins have built a broad wine and this is a real success with lots of energy and vibrancy throughout but with no harsh acidity or too lean tannins. Stylish, characterful and executed very well. 11% press wine, last year was 17%. 93% Cabernet in the blend, second highest in history after 2010 which was 94%. 75 IPT. 40% grand vin production. A potential 100-point wine.

The 2023 Mouton Rothschild was picked from September 7 to 30 and contains 93% Cabernet Sauvignon the second highest ever (after the 2010). Matured entirely in new oak as usual this has an intense floral bouquet with violet petals infusing the black fruit and touches of licorice loitering just off stage—very fine delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with extremely refined tannins. Focused and harmonious it’s velvety smooth with a long and tender finish that has more crispness than the 2022. In fact I might ultimately end up preferring this over the 2022…it will be interesting finding out in the future!

Aromas of crème de cassis and dark berries mingled with pencil shaving, espresso roast and violets introduce the 2023 Mouton Rothschild, a medium to full-bodied, layered and fleshy wine with a creamy core of ripe but lively fruit, sweet tannins and an expansive finish. In terms of parcels, the 2023 is quite different in origins from the 2022, favoring plots that are better-drained rather than those resistant to drought. It's a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Merlot, without either Cabernet Franc or Petit Verdot featuring in the blend, and it attained 13.3% alcohol.

93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot. Cask sample. Pure Cabernet-cassis aroma. Juicy and gourmand on the palate but with a steely tannic frame behind. Good density and still tightly wound. Will need time. (JL)

The 2023 Mouton Rothschild is bright and explosive in the glass. Vibrant, rich, deep and so beautifully expressive, the 2023 Mouton is one of my early candidates for wine of the vintage. Cabernet Sauvignon is bumped up to 93% (the highest ever, just behind the 2010), with 7% Merlot and no Cabernet Franc or Petit Verdot in the blend. Time in the glass brings out darker shades of fruit along the wine's complex, dynamic personality. This is a magnificent Grand Vin.