Château Mouton Rothschild's 1996 was one of the stars of an excellent Bordeaux vintage.

Mouton Rothschild has been under the Barons de Rothschild ownership for over 100 years, and it was the unremitting efforts of the flamboyant Baron Philippe de Rothschild that resulted in Mouton's historical upgrade to premier Grand cru status in 1973 – the only change ever made to the Bordeaux classification of 1855.

Prior to the Médoc classification, Mouton's wine labels declared, Premier ne puis, Second ne daigne, Mouton suis ('First I cannot be, Second I do not deign to be, I am Mouton'). After the upgrade, the motto was changed to Premier je suis, second je fus, Mouton ne change ('First I am, second I was, Mouton does not change').

“A superb, ravishing nose. Blackberry, chestnut, cooked meats. Very intense and with great delineation. The palate is full-bodied, tannic, solid and muscular. Latour? Very well-balanced, has a certainly meaty core to it. Good grip but not over-powering. Huge grip on the finish. Very fine.” eRobertParker.com (Sept 2006)