This is very, very layered with gorgeous fruit and velvety tannins. Hints of chocolate. Full-bodied and chewy with soft, fine tannins. 72% cabernet sauvignon, 24% merlot and 4% cabernet franc. Gorgeous second wine.

Elegant, sophisticated, long, clean and expansive, this is showing just great due to all its layers of perfectly ripe, red fruits, silky tannins, length and freshness. There is a real verve here, with concentration, sweetness, lift and complexity allowing the wine to age and evolve. The finish leaves you with more of those sweet, ripe, juicy berries. Today the second wine of Mouton Rothschild is superior to every vintage of Mouton produced in the 70s and in most of the 80s! The wine blends 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, 13.1% ABV. 94-96

The 2020 Le Petit Mouton De Mouton Rothschild is another powerful, concentrated wine, especially in the vintage, and it has a pure, incredibly Cabernet Sauvignon-driven style. Lots of blackcurrants, liquid violets, graphite, and rocky mineral notes emerge on the nose, and this medium to full-bodied, tightly knit, concentrated, structured second wine is going to need a good 4-5 years of bottle age, yet should have two decades of longevity.

(72% CS, 24% M, 4% CF; 36% harvest, 13.1% ABV; 50% new)
Fresh, slightly smoky (the Mouton ‘“fumée”) red-fruit nose; rich, medium-full wine with a lovely concentration, fresh in acidity, very fine in tannin, a clear, aristocratic presence, albeit restrained; deep, sweet and minerally, tight and compact, long, gently fleshy, and graceful to taste, but with the Cabernet aromatic complexity clear, and a textural grain here of a different order from the two fifth growths; rich, close-knit, gratifying wine, with great length of flavor, before a fine, mineral and spicy persistence. Not Mouton’s volume, of course, but the class is there. A beautiful,
top-notch, second wine. 2030–50+.

Tasted by Jane Anson(at Primeur week tastings in Bordeaux, 01 May 2021)
Part of Best Pauillac 2020 wines tasted en primeur

A serious Petit Mouton, with inky depths to the colour, and plenty of tannic hold and bite, with a lovely bitter chocolate brownie feel that steals up on you through the palate. less sexy and exuberant than in some years perhaps, but this is extremely rewarding, with waves of grilled cocoa beans and intense black fruits.

Drinking Window 2024 - 2038

The 2020 Le Petit Mouton, which contains a relatively higher level of Cabernet Sauvignon this year, represents 36% of the total production. It has a wonderful, entrancing bouquet, a mixture of red and black fruit, freshly tilled soil, cedar and emerging floral scents of iris petal and incense. I love the energy on this not so "petit" Mouton. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins and perfectly judged acidity, harmonious and poised with superb mineralité and tension toward the finish. So sophisticated. This is (yet another) great Le Petit Mouton.
- vinous.com

The 2020 Le Petit-Mouton is a gorgeous wine, but it’s quite different in style from many previous editions because of a high proportion (72%) of Cabernet Sauvignon. Silky and aromatic, but also quite reticent, the 2020 is going to need time to give its best. Bright red berry fruit, blood orange and striking lift from the Cabernet Franc offer tons of appeal. I especially like the aromatics here.
Vinous.com

Drink Date
2025 - 2042

Reviewed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The 2020 Le Petit Mouton is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, weighing in with 13.1% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple colored, it comes galloping out of the glass with exuberant notes of ripe blackcurrants, fresh blackberries and kirsch, plus suggestions of Indian spices, clove oil and chocolate box, plus a fragrant suggestion of lilacs. The medium-bodied palate has a rock-solid structure of firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness supporting the tight-knit red and black berry layers, finishing long with a peppery kick.

72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc. 36% of the production. Cask sample.
Powerful, tense and very Pauillac. Fruit pure and mouth-filling with dark-fruit and graphite notes. Layers of fine-grained, powdery tannin provide a velvety texture as well as length and persistence. Certainly has the structure to age. (JL)72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc. 36% of the production. Cask sample.
Powerful, tense and very Pauillac. Fruit pure and mouth-filling with dark-fruit and graphite notes. Layers of fine-grained, powdery tannin provide a velvety texture as well as length and persistence. Certainly has the structure to age. (JL)