Château Mouton Rothschild

Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild, of the English branch of the Rothschild family, bought Château Brane-Mouton at auction in 1853, and the Pauillac estate took his name: Château Mouton Rothschild. In 1922 Nathaniel's great-grandson, Baron Philippe de Rothschild, barely 20 years old, took charge of the estate and devoted the rest of his life to it. His tenure, from 1922 to his death in 1988, brought château-bottling of the whole crop in 1924, the artist-label tradition in 1945 and First Growth status in 1973. In 1954 he married his second wife, Pauline Fairfax Potter; together they created Mouton's Museum of Wine in Art, inaugurated in 1962. On Baron Philippe's death in 1988, his only child, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild (1933-2014), inherited the estate together with her three children and became Chair of the Supervisory Board of the family company, Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA. A stage actress before taking on the role, she launched the touring 'Paintings for the Labels' exhibition in 1981, created the dry white Aile d'Argent (first vintage 1991) and the second wine Le Petit Mouton (first vintage 1993), and modernised the family company's facilities. Since her death in 2014, her son Philippe Sereys de Rothschild has chaired the Supervisory Board, and since 2018 he has also been Chairman and CEO of Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA. He and his siblings, Camille Sereys de Rothschild and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, own Mouton together with two other Pauillac classified growths bought under Baron Philippe: Château d'Armailhac (bought in 1933 as Château Mouton d'Armailhacq, renamed in 1989) and Château Clerc Milon (bought in 1970). Baron Philippe also partnered with California's Robert Mondavi to create Opus One in 1979.

• Bought at auction in 1853 by Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild (English branch of the family); renamed from Château Brane-Mouton
• Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) took charge in 1922 at barely 20 years old; introduced château-bottling in 1924 and began the artist-label tradition in 1945
• Baroness Philippine de Rothschild (1933-2014) inherited the estate in 1988, shared with her three children; launched the 'Paintings for the Labels' touring exhibition in 1981
• Philippe Sereys de Rothschild has chaired the family company's Supervisory Board since 2014 and has been its Chairman and CEO since 2018; he and siblings Camille Sereys de Rothschild and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild co-own Mouton, Château d'Armailhac (bought 1933) and Château Clerc Milon (bought 1970)
• Baron Philippe partnered with Robert Mondavi to create Opus One in California in 1979

The 1855 Bordeaux Classification ranked Mouton Rothschild a Second Growth; the estate's history describes First Growth as the status 'of which it had been unfairly deprived.' Baron Philippe campaigned for promotion for decades. Wine Spectator calls the 1973 change 'the only formal revision' to the original ranking, won 'after half a century of unceasing effort' by Baron Philippe, while The National WWII Museum counts it as only the second change to the 1855 Classification, the first having been relatively minor. A decree signed by Jacques Chirac, then Minister of Agriculture, made Mouton a Premier Cru Classé that year. The motto changed from 'Premier ne puis, second ne daigne, Mouton suis' ('First, I cannot be. Second, I do not deign to be. Mouton I am.') to 'Premier je suis, Second je fus, Mouton ne change' ('First, I am. Second, I used to be. Mouton does not change.'). The 1973 label was dedicated to Pablo Picasso (d. 1973): instead of a new commission, Baron Philippe chose a Bacchanale watercolour painted by Picasso in 1959, from his own collection, used with permission from Picasso's estate. 1973 itself was not a great Bordeaux vintage: too much rain before harvest gave fruity, approachable wines, not of the calibre Mouton delivers in stronger years.

• Ranked a Second Growth in the 1855 Classification; the estate's history calls the ranking an injustice
• 1973: promoted after decades of campaigning by Baron Philippe, by a decree signed by Jacques Chirac, then Minister of Agriculture; Wine Spectator calls it the only formal revision ever made to the 1855 Classification
• Motto changed from 'Premier ne puis, second ne daigne, Mouton suis' to 'Premier je suis, Second je fus, Mouton ne change' ('First I am, second I was, Mouton does not change')
• 1973 label: a tribute to Pablo Picasso (d. 1973), using an existing 1959 watercolour from Baron Philippe's own collection rather than a new commission

Mouton Rothschild's vineyard lies mostly on the Plateau de Mouton, a hillock in Pauillac rising to 27 metres above sea level, on deep, gravelly soil over a clay-limestone base. It covers 90 hectares (222 acres); a banner on the estate's terroir page gives 84 hectares (207 acres). Vines are planted at 10,000 per hectare, with an average age of about 44 years, to Cabernet Sauvignon (81%), Merlot (15%), Cabernet Franc (3%) and Petit Verdot (1%); the blend of each vintage varies from these planting proportions. Grapes are hand-picked, sorted by hand on vibrating tables after destemming, and fed into the fermentation vats by gravity alone. Fermentation takes place in 44 oak vats, fitted with transparent staves so the process can be monitored, and 20 stainless-steel vats, their sizes matched to the estate's different parcels. After vinification the wine matures for about twenty months in new oak barrels, handled in the traditional Médoc manner, including egg-white fining.

• Plateau de Mouton, Pauillac: deep gravelly soil over a clay-limestone base, rising to 27 metres above sea level
• 90 hectares (222 acres), with one banner on the estate's terroir page giving 84 hectares; 10,000 vines per hectare; average vine age about 44 years
• Planting: Cabernet Sauvignon (81%), Merlot (15%), Cabernet Franc (3%), Petit Verdot (1%); the blend varies by vintage
• Fermented in 44 oak vats (transparent staves for monitoring) and 20 stainless-steel vats; matured about 20 months in new oak with egg-white fining

Baron Philippe de Rothschild asked the poster artist Jean Carlu to design a label for the 1924 vintage, the first bottled entirely at the château, but the idea was not repeated for two decades. In 1945, to celebrate the Allied victory and mark his return to his estates, he asked the artist Philippe Jullian to illustrate the label with a 'V' for Victory. Since then the label for each vintage has carried an original artwork by a contemporary artist, starting with Jean Hugo's 1946 label. The unbroken series includes, among many others, Jean Cocteau (1947), Salvador Dalí (1958), Joan Miró (1969), Marc Chagall (1970), Pablo Picasso (1973, the tribute described above), Andy Warhol (1975) and Gerhard Richter (2015). Baroness Philippine de Rothschild took the originals to the public in 1981 with the touring exhibition 'Mouton Rothschild - Paintings for the Labels', since shown in over forty museums worldwide. Since 2013 the artworks have been on permanent display in a dedicated gallery next to the vat room, in glass cases designed by Francis Lacloche.

• 1924: Jean Carlu's label for the first vintage bottled entirely at the château, a one-off not repeated for two decades
• 1945: Philippe Jullian's 'V for Victory' label marked the Allied victory; the annual series continued without a break from Jean Hugo's 1946 label
• Artists include Jean Cocteau (1947), Salvador Dalí (1958), Joan Miró (1969), Marc Chagall (1970), Pablo Picasso (1973), Andy Warhol (1975) and Gerhard Richter (2015)
• 'Paintings for the Labels' touring exhibition launched by Baroness Philippine in 1981 and shown in over forty museums; the originals have been in a permanent on-site gallery since 2013

At the 1976 Judgment of Paris blind tasting, Mouton's 1970 placed second among the red wines, behind Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon and ahead of Château Haut-Brion 1970 and Château Montrose 1970: the best result of any French wine in the tasting. In 1945, heavy frosts on 2 May sharply cut the Médoc crop, and a hot, dry summer followed, producing super-ripe grapes. Mouton's 1945 harvest, at about 10 hectolitres per hectare, gave about 74,422 bottles; in Bordeaux, 1945 was the smallest vintage since 1915. Robert Parker scored this 'Victory Vintage' 100 points in a February 1996 Wine Advocate review, calling it 'truly one of the immortal wines of the century.' Wine Advocate's Lisa Perrotti-Brown also gave it 100 points in October 2019, and Jancis Robinson gave a bottle tasted in September 2019 19 out of 20 points, calling it the 'essence of ripe claret.' Michael Broadbent, former head of wine at Christie's, called the 1945 'simply unmistakable', and Decanter has named it one of its 'Wine Legend' wines. Decanter's most recent update on the wine listed single bottles at about £15,900 through a UK retailer and $23,222.89 through a California retailer. Parker also gave 100 points to the 1982 and 1986 vintages.

• 1970: second among the reds at the 1976 Judgment of Paris, behind Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 and ahead of Château Haut-Brion 1970
• 1945 'Victory Vintage': frost-reduced crop, about 10 hl/ha, roughly 74,422 bottles; Bordeaux's smallest vintage since 1915
• 1945: 100 points from Robert Parker (Wine Advocate, February 1996, 'truly one of the immortal wines of the century') and from Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate, October 2019); 19/20 from Jancis Robinson (September 2019)
• Parker also gave 100 points to the 1982 and 1986 vintages; Decanter has named the 1945 a 'Wine Legend'

Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild, the second wine, comes from selected younger vines within the First Growth vineyard and is harvested, vinified and bottled with the same attention to detail as the grand vin. The first vintage, 1993, was called 'Le Second Vin de Mouton Rothschild'; the current name, used since 1994, refers to Petit Mouton, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild's residence on the estate. Its label, chosen by Baroness Philippine, is based on a 1927 Art Deco drawing by Jean Carlu, the artist behind Mouton's 1924 label. The dry white Aile d'Argent comes from white varieties planted at Philippine de Rothschild's initiative in the early 1980s; its first vintage was 1991. It is made from Sauvignon Blanc (53%), Sémillon (35%), Sauvignon Gris (11%) and Muscadelle (1%), planted at 9,000 vines per hectare, and half the wine matures in new oak barrels.

• Le Petit Mouton: second wine from selected younger vines; first vintage 1993 (as 'Le Second Vin de Mouton Rothschild'), current name since 1994
• Le Petit Mouton's label is based on a 1927 Art Deco drawing by Jean Carlu, designer of Mouton's 1924 label
• Aile d'Argent: dry white planted in the early 1980s, first vintage 1991; Sauvignon Blanc (53%), Sémillon (35%), Sauvignon Gris (11%), Muscadelle (1%) at 9,000 vines per hectare
• Half of Aile d'Argent matures in new oak barrels

Primary sources (producer's own site, fetched as raw page text via curl and a local HTML-to-text script, not a summarizing tool): https://www.chateau-mouton-rothschild.com/, .../the-history/history, .../the-history/the-history-of-mouton/from-marquis-to-barons, .../from-baron-philippe, .../to-baroness-philippine, .../the-history/key-dates/ (1853, 1924, 1926, 1933, 1945, 1962, 1973, 1981, 1988, 1991, 1993, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014), .../the-history/portraits/ (Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, Camille Sereys de Rothschild, Julien de Beaumarchais), .../the-vineyard/the-terroir, .../the-vineyard/from-vine-to-wine, .../the-house/the-mouton-style, .../the-house/the-labels-room, .../chateau-mouton-rothschild, .../le-petit-mouton-de-mouton-rothschild, .../aile-dargent, .../label-art/discover-the-artwork (and its Pablo Picasso artist page), .../contact. Secondary sources: Wine Spectator ('The 1855 Bordeaux Classification'), Stag's Leap Wine Cellars ('Judgment of Paris'), The National WWII Museum ('Mouton Rothschild and the 1945 Victory Vintage,' April 2020), Decanter ('Wine Legend: Château Mouton Rothschild 1945,' last updated 30 September 2020), Wine-Chronicles.com (Mouton Rothschild 1986, October 2025), Farr Vintners (1945 tasting-note listing, quoting Wine Advocate issue 103), Paskamer Amsterdam (Mouton Rothschild 1973 and the Picasso label). Last verified 2026-10-12. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs; see conflicts.json.