Cellar Favorite:
1986 Mouton-Rothschild

BY NEAL
MARTIN | DECEMBER 29, 2025

I have
been waiting to write this Cellar Favorite for many years. Rewind a decade or
so. Following a visit to this Pauillac First Growth, former winemaker Philippe
Dhalluin invited me for a quick lunch before my afternoon flight home. He
poured a wine blind. It was sensational. Blew me away. I suggested that it must
surely be an exemplary example of the 1982 Mouton-Rothschild.

Dhalluin
smiled. I was wrong. Not for the first time.

It was
the 1986 Mouton-Rothschild. Following that lunch, the ‘86 never reappeared at
any tasting or dinner, evading my “capture.” When a magnum was generously
proffered at a dinner last spring, it was corked. That same person, wishing to
right a wrong (not his but that of the defective cork), kindly brought a bottle
to a recent gathering at Cornus in London.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1767021604551-mouton+1986+bottle_Vinous.JPG">The
1986 Mouton-Rothschild replicated that initial sensational display, perhaps
surpassed it. Put me on record as stating that this is one of the greatest wines of
that decade. Many bemoan the glacial pace at which the 1986s have matured in
bottle, but the best examples are finally shedding their robust tannic frames
and blossoming into brilliant examples of Left Bank claret. Good things come to
those who wait, no?

As it
nears 40 years in age, this Pauillac is acquiescing to time, those huge tannins
polymerising as primary fruit evolves into secondary. The nose is a cornucopia
of scents—blackberry, cedar, mint and freshly picked violet—all delivered with
equal precocity and control. This is the first time that this Mouton-Rothschild
has conveyed a more melted texture on the palate. There remains immense grip,
but all those angles and edges have been smoothed into velvet. It has amazing
depth, unfurling layers of predominantly black fruit, blueberry and graphite
before it dovetails into a sumptuous yet still aristocratic finish. The 1986 feels
like a well-behaved 1982 Mouton, less hedonistic, a little more statesmanlike. In
general, the 1986s are a bit forgotten, sometimes dismissed simply because they
were predestined to evolve so slowly. But the best examples are delivering for
those with patience. The 1986 Mouton-Rothschild is the best of them all. 100/Drink
2025-2060.© 2025, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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