Mouton Rothschild 1948 (750ML)

The 1948 Mouton-Rothschild acquits itself well in what was a cool summer that begat tannic, masculine wines. According to Michael Broadbent, it was green in its youth and required 20 years of bottle age. It remains fresh and well-defined on the nose with dark berry fruit, cigar smoke and light tertiary aromas. There is certainly no shortfall of fruit, more a Pauillac that must suffice with ‘rationed’ fruit that year. After all, it was born amid post-war austerity. What it lacks in substance, it makes up for with impressive balance and no evidence of greenness. Perchance that has been subsumed into wine over several decades? You could quibble that this Mouton is a bit conservative and lacks the flair of other vintages. Yet it has a stately presence, one befitting a First Growth in all but name.-Neal Martin, Vinous Media