Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1986

Classification	Cru Classe
Type	Red
Producer	Chateau Mouton Rothschild
Vintage	1986
Country	France
Main region	Bordeaux
Region	Pauillac
Grape	Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Bordeaux Blend
Volume	0,75
Condition	Perfect, From Original Wooden Case, In original container
Label	Perfect
Drinkable	-2040
Stock	12
Volume	0,75
Condition	Perfect
Label	Damaged, Bin stained
Drinkable	-2040
Stock	0
Volume	0,75
Condition	High Shoulder
Label	Slightly damaged
Drinkable	-2040
Stock	0
Volume	0,75
Condition	Top shoulder
Label	Slightly bin stained
Drinkable	-2040
Stock	0
Volume	0,375
Condition	Perfect
Label	Some labels slightly bin soiled
Drinkable	-2040
Stock	0
Volume	1,5
Condition	Perfect
Label	Slightly bin soiled
Drinkable	-2040
Stock	0

Professional reviews

Robert Parker (100)

After stumbling over some wines I thought were high class Bordeaux, I nailed this wine in one of the blind tastings for this article. In most tastings where a great Bordeaux is inserted with California Cabernets, the Bordeaux comes across as drier, more austere, and not nearly as rich and concentrated (California wines are inevitably fruitier and more massive). To put it mildly, the 1986 Mouton-Rothschild held its own (and then some), in a flight that included the Caymus Special Selection, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23, Dunn Howell Mountain, and Joseph Phelps Eisele Vineyard. Clearly the youngest looking, most opaque and concentrated wine of the group, it tastes as if it has not budged in development since I first tasted it out of barrel in March, 1987. An enormously concentrated, massive Mouton-Rothschild, comparable in quality, but not style, to the 1982, 1959, and 1945, this impeccably made wine is still in its infancy. Interestingly, when I was in Bordeaux several years ago, I had this wine served to me blind from a magnum that had been opened and decanted 48 hours previously. Even then, it still tasted like a barrel sample! I suspect the 1986 Mouton-Rothschild requires a minimum of 15-20 more years of cellaring; it has the potential to last for 50-100 years! Given the outrageously high prices being fetched by so many of the great 1982s and 1990s (and lest I forget, the 1995 Bordeaux futures), it appears this wine might still be one of the

Winespectator (99)

Ageless, yet balanced. Black color. Mint, mineral, berry and cherry. Full-bodied, chewy and tight. Long, long finish. A great, great wine.--Bordeaux retrospective. Drink now. –JS

James Suckling (100)

This is finally coming around with such fine tannins and beautiful fruit after all these years. Full and balanced. Historical. And so long. Stunning. Fresh and bright.

Jancis Robinson (19)

This was always an exceptional wine, but an exceptionally slow-maturing one. It was served blind and seemed immediately like Mouton with its sweet, light mintiness and spice. This opulent monument of a wine has at least cast off enough tannin to provide majestic drinking now. What a treat to encounter this wine again at this exciting stage of its life.

Rene Gabriel (20)

Rene Gabriel rates this wine 20/20 points.

BOW (10)

Jane Anson (98)

Rightly seen as one of the all-time great vintages at Chateau Mouton Rothschild, after a vintage that favoured Cabernet Sauvignon and a harvest that stretched from October 2 to 16, so late and leisurely. One of those years that winemakers dream about – with quality and quantity. Crops came in at around 15% higher than in 1985, which itself was a pretty abundant year, and 1986 turned out to be the biggest crop since World War Two. Powerful, concentrated, still very much in its drinking window almost 40 years old, tannins now melted and resolved but going nowhere, and this brambled, cassis and blackberry fruit is just so inviting, sliced through with liqourice, espresso and crushed mint leaf. This is a wine that still, even now, benefits from an extremely long carafe – on a recent tasting a few years ago, when it wasn’t quite showing up to expectations, it took a full 24 hours to suddenly burst out of the glass and show its brilliance. So my strong advice is that if you are not blown away immediately, put it to one side and come back, because this is magic in a bottle.