Wine Advocate
byRobert Parkerthe4/1/2000
Mouton's huge harvest team of 400 pickers attacked the vineyard on September 26 and finished in early October. Only 60% of the crop made it into the grand vin, which is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Franc. Yields were a modest 42 hectoliters per hectare.
At harvest, the estate's administrator, Patrick Leon, felt Merlot was the more favored grape, but after fermentation, he thought it was the Cabernet Sauvignon that had fared better, surprising in view of the heavy rains and tropical humidity experienced in late September. The extremely hot temperatures during the growing season (10% above normal) have left their imprint on the seductive, flashy, low acid 1999 Mouton.
Aromas of grilled bread, creme de cassis, and vanillin jump from the glass of this opaque purple-colored effort. Exhibiting an admirable mid-palate, stuffing, and fatness, low acidity, and ripe, sweet tannin, this will be one of the more forward, seductive Moutons produced over the last two decades. As the wine sat in the glass, notes of new saddle leather, coconut, and smoke emerged. This should be an uncommonly precocious, delicious Mouton-Rothschild upon release, yet it will last for two decades. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2020.