Mouton Rothschild dinner

Dinner at Sotheby's, co-hosted by Mouton Rothschild and the family.

Champagne Barons de Rothschild

2011 Aile d'Argent - toasty oak on the nose.  Nice balance on the palate at first, slightly ripe but not too sweet.  Long finish with punchiness.

2006 Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild - double-decanted 3½ hours prior to serving.  Nose of coffee, mint, sweet fruit, cedar, and tobacco.  Drinking really well.

2003 Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild - double-decanted 3½ hours prior to serving.  Smoky, cigar smoke, nice and sweet fruit, a little meaty, a little coconut butter.  More tannic on the palate than the 2006.  Beautiful and opulent.

2001 Mouton Rothschild - double-decanted 3½ hours prior to serving. Very minty, woodsy, some sweet fruit here, and a little exotic.

1996 Mouton Rothschild - double-decanted 3½ hours prior to serving.  Probably my favorite wine of the evening as it was drinking beautifully.  Heavy nose of tobacco smoke and pencil lead, with some cedar wood.  More powerful than I expected.  Classic Pauillac and exactly what I think a Mouton should be.

1986 Mouton Rothschild - double-decanted 3½ hours prior to serving.  This didn't show very well, as a friend and I discussed before dinner started, and I was told that some tables had new pours from different bottles.  Definitely possible that ex-château stock was simply too young.  Nose was a little earthy, smoky, a little meaty, and pretty lean.  The palate was very lovely and smooth, but the nose just wasn't as opulent and showy as I had hoped for.

1961 Mouton Rothschild - double-decanted 1 hour prior to serving.  Well, for me this wine wasn't showing, either.  Which may be just that I am somehow off tonight... because everyone else I spoke to tonight raved about this wine.  After all, this is ex-château stock of a legendary vintage.  One of my friends remarked that this wine alone was worth putting on a suit and tie for.  Nose showed a little animal, meaty, minty notes.  Very silky and beautifully smooth on the palate, which showed slight savory notes.  A beautiful and elegant wine for sure, but a little too restrained and lacking that sexy opulence.  Of course, this was only the second time I've had this vintage, so what the hell do I know?!

1989 La Cuvée Madame de Château Coutet - given the small production, what a privilege it was to be drinking this wine!  Beautiful and stunning, with honey, apricot, marmalade, acetone, and honeydew melon notes.  Soooo rich and unctuous, but with good acidity balance here.

Liqueur de Cassis de Mouton Rothschild - the upside surprise of the evening.  Lots of ripe berries, a little violet, some herbal notes that reminds me a little of chartreuse, and also displayed the same savory notes as tomato juice.  So alcoholic that it started to singe the hairs in my nostrils...  A very limited production of maximum 1,600 bottles a year.

Full post on dinner is here.