Pauillac

The wine of Pauillac is perfect when paired with rare, grilled beef. Pauillac also makes a great match with most roasted, braised or grilled meats like veal, pork, chicken and game as well as dishes with mushroom or earthy, truffle flavors.

Chateau Mouton Rothschild a Premier Cru Classé from the Bordeaux region and one of the world's greatest wines is owned by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild. The estate includes 205 acres of vines at Pauillac planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (77%) Merlot (11%) Cabernet Franc (10%) and Petit Verdot (2%). In 1853 Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild bought Chateau Brane-Mouton. In 1922 his great-grandson Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) decided to take the future of the estate into his own hands. His 65 years at Mouton bear witness to the strength of his personality his spirit of enterprise and his sense of innovation. In 1922 he was the first to introduce chateau bottling. In 1926 he built the famous Grand Chai the majestic 100-meter first year cellar which has become a major attraction for visitors to Mouton. 1945 marked the start of a fascinating collection of works of art created every year for the Mouton label by famous painters. In 1973 after a twenty-year battle Baron Philippe obtained a revision of the 1855 classification and Mouton was officially recognized as a First Growth. In 1988 Baroness Philippine de Rothschild succeeded her father Baron Philippe. She has become the guarantor of the quality of an illustrious wine whose motto proudly proclaims First I am second I was I Mouton do not change.

2012 was a year of contrasts. The winter was cold and very dry. The average temperature in February was the lowest for fifty years. Exceptionally dry conditions prevailed from 20 July to 20 September, concentrating sugar and tannins in the grapes. The month of August was the fifth driest in the last fifty years. By the end of September, the aggregate amount of rainfall was 26% lower than the average since 1962 (435 mm compared with 589 mm).

After vinification, the wines are matured in new oak barrels and the various stages in the maturing process are carried out in the traditional Médoc manner, including topping-up, and fining with egg-white which is intended to clarify and stabilise the wine by precipitating the particles suspended in it. During the maturing process, which lasts about twenty months, the barrels are transferred from the Grand Chai to the second-year cellars, where the wine stays cool until the end of its stay at the Château.

At the cutting edge of technology, the gravity-feed vat room ushers in a new era in Mouton’s history. Built on two levels linked by elegant metal pillars in a harmonious marriage of wood and steel, it remains true to the Mouton tradition of oak vats. Of different size, the vats correspond to the different parcels of the estate, helping to optimise both selection at harvest-time and the blending of the wine. The vast majority of the vats at Mouton are made of oak (44 vats, fitted with transparent staves, so that the vinification process can be monitored), the others are made of stainless steel (20 vats).