Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2015 (Premiers Crus)

In 1924, Baron Philippe de Rothschild made a decision that would reshape all of Bordeaux: he began château-bottling his own wine, a practice then considered radical and now universal across the Médoc. That same instinct for deliberate transgression culminated in 1973 when Mouton became the sole estate ever reclassified under the 1855 system — promoted from Second to First Growth by ministerial decree, prompting the motto: Premier je suis, second je fus, Mouton ne change.

The Plateau de Mouton sits at 27 m elevation in northern Pauillac, its soils composed of Günzian gravel descending over 5 metres onto clay-limestone and iron-rich marl. That extraordinary depth drains aggressively while the gravel mass retains heat, accelerating phenolic ripeness in Cabernet Sauvignon and concentrating the dark-fruit density that defines Mouton's hedonistic register.

Grapes are hand-harvested and gravity-fed into 44 oak fermentation vats — one of the last such regimes in the Médoc — enabling parcel-by-parcel vinification with minimal mechanical stress. Malolactic fermentation occurs in tank; the wine then ages 19–22 months in 100% new French oak barriques (medium toast), first in the 100-metre Grand Chai designed by Charles Siclis in 1926. Fined with egg white before bottling. Only the finest parcels — at most 50% of estate production — qualify as Grand Vin.

The 2015 vintage is not individually documented in the château's published notes, but falls between the structured 2014 and the opulent 2016; Petit Verdot was absent from blends through 2015, making this a Cabernet Sauvignon–Merlot–Cabernet Franc construction. Approach with patience; the 2016 drinks from 2026, suggesting 2015 rewards cellaring through the late 2020s at minimum.