Le Petit Mouton, Pauillac, 2023
Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy, the supremely talented Technical Director responsible for Baron Philippe de Rothschild's three Bordeaux chateaux has crafted an exquisite range of wines, which marry generous, textural fruit with gloriously precise aromatics and velvety tannins. Brooding dark bouquet with liquorice and graphite - quite savoury and stony. Notes of mocha, earth and some violet scented dark berries. Quite a serious and noir Petit Mouton. 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.
critic reviews
Slate and grip, clear again here that this is not the most exuberant of vintages, it's classical with a serious backbone. That doesn't mean that Petit Mouton isn't out to make you happy, and you can expect plenty of black chocolate, damson, black cherry, signature cocoa bean, espresso and salted cracker, but the tannins are pretty fierce. Harvest September 7 to 30 (but 2/3 of grapes coming in after September 21), 39% of production.
The 2023 Le Petit-Mouton is aged in 50% new oak. It has an intense nose, mainly black fruit commingling with briar and light estuarine scents. Perhaps the aromatics feel a bit "secretive" at present. The palate is medium-bodied with a concentrated entry. This is a voluminous and powerful Pauillac for the vintage, driven by that 79% Cabernet Sauvignon. There’s a fine bitter edge on the finish; give this Le Petit Mouton three to five years in bottle.
The 2023 Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild is deep garnet-purple in color. It slowly emerges from the glass with powerful scents of cassis, plum preserves, and tar plus underlying nuances of menthol and pencil shavings. The medium-bodied palate is soft and refreshing, with just enough mid-palate fruit and a mineral-laced finish. The blend is 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, with pH 3.74. The alcohol is 13.3%.
Aromas of dark berries, cassis and cigar wrapper introduce the 2023 Le Petit Mouton, a medium-bodied, fleshy wine with good depth and density, its lively core of fruit framed by sweet, powdery tannins, concluding with a penetrating finish. It's a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.