One magnum bottle of Château Mouton Rothschild
1993 vintage
Pauillac
Label design by Balthus (1908-2001)
Original filling quantity: 1.5 l
Fill level: high fill
Robert Parker: 90/100 (1997)
Wine Spectator: 90/100 (1996)
Jean-Marc Quarin: 88/100 (2003)
René Gabriel: 18/20 (2011)

This lot comprises one magnum bottle (1.5 l) of 1993 vintage Château Mouton Rothschild from the Pauillac appellation in Bordeaux. The label was designed by controversial artist Balthus (1908-2001) and is an anomaly in the history of Château Mouton Rothschild labels: As this vintage label caused controversy in the United States, a second label without the nude portrait was produced for the American market.

The Pauillac appellation produces some of the world’s most highly-prized and expensive red wines. Situated to the northwest of the city of Bordeaux, near the Atlantic coast, its vineyards are located on dried-out swamplands. Vines take root in gravel dunes with subterranean clay lens. Here, Cabernet Sauvignon can develop a unique depth of taste and power, so the grape variety therefore makes up a large percentage of the Pauillac cuvées. The tannin-rich, powerful, concentrated wines require longer bottle-ageing in order to differentiate and reveal their taste. The Classification of 1855 put the vineyards of the Lafite-Rothschild and Latour estates ahead of the pack, awarding them Premier cru status. Mouton-Rothschild has also belonged to the club since 1973. In second place are the Deuxième crus of Pichon-Longueville-Baron and Pichon-Longueville-Comtesse de Lalande. For decades, however, experts have judged them as being at least on a par with their Premier cru counterparts. This is also the case for numerous other top wines from this appellation.

Although it rained occasionally in Bordeaux during 1993, the vintage is today viewed as being underrated and full of surprises. This wine can undoubtedly be counted amongst those.

The 1993 vintage Mouton was last awarded 90 points by Robert Parker in 1997. It received the same score in an edition of Wine Spectator magazine in 1996. Jean-Marc Quarin last scored the wine in 2003, giving it 88 points. René Gabriel rated the wine 18 out of 20 points in 2011.



The fill level is outstanding (high fill). The label and capsule are in perfect condition.



Château Mouton Rothschild

Château Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac near Bordeaux is one of the most famous wine-growing estates in the world and is still privately owned by the Rothschild banking family. Today’s estate is the legacy of Baron Philippe de Rothschild, who acquired it on October 22, 1922, when he was still a young man. By striving for excellence and constantly searching for new methods, he consistently improved the quality of the Château’s output. His first innovation was to bottle the wine on the estate in order to determine all stages of production: “Mise en Bouteille au Château”. His efforts were finally rewarded in 1973, when Château Mouton Rothschild was reclassified from Deuxième to Premier Cru (first growth) – the only change to have been made in the history of the official classification.



Mouton has 82 hectares of vineyard area, made up of 77 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 12 % Merlot, 9 % Cabernet Franc and 2 % Petit Verdot. Château Mouton Rothschild lies on a slope that is thirty metres high in places. On this slope, a layer of more than eight metres of gravel lies on a calciferous base, coming from alluvial deposits from the nearby Gironde, in the Pyrenees, towards the end of the Beestonian stage. The Cabernet Sauvignon grape variety grows splendidly on this soil.

Shipping costs excl. statutory VAT and plus 2,5% (+VAT) shipping insurance.