2001 Mouton Rothschild

The 2001 is an amazing vintage that has inched forwards over the past 20 years, still muscular although always more elegant in its tannic frame than the 2000 vintage before it. I served it out of magnum, and if wines of the year are about emotions, this definitely deserves to be among them. I was given this bottle back in 2011 when I won the Prix Baron Philippe de Rotshchild for my first book Bordeaux Legends, and I have kept it safely at home ever since. Honestly I should probably have waited another decade, as it was still young, but I had something special to celebrate, good friends coming over, and it seemed like the right moment. Definitely needs time in a carafe, but as it opened up, the creamy blackberry and cassis fruits began to show the traditional Mouton welcome, and coffee and woodsmoke curled out of the glass alongside grilled cedar and liqourice root. Patrick Léon technical director at the time.

The 2001 Mouton-Rothschild contains 20% vin de presse and 12.6° alcohol. It has a vibrant, captivating bouquet that explodes from the glass with precocious black cherries, sous-bois , mint and a touch of Seville oranges, displaying precision and class. The medium-bodied palate shows good density and offers sappy black fruit, white pepper and just a touch of tobacco. Quite muscular for a 2001, and perhaps missing the clarity and pixelation that the next winemaker, Philippe Dhalluin, subsequently imparted. This is a thoroughly enjoyable Mouton-Rothschild, even if it is not the same pedigree as recent vintages.