The 2020 Le Petit Mouton benefits from the fact that the grand vin this year derives almost exclusively from the estate's core gravel terraces, meaning that many parcels that were included in, for example, the 2018 Mouton ended up in the Petit Mouton in 2020. Offering up aromas of cassis, cigar wrapper and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with a broad attack and a layered, concentrated mid-palate.

The vintage went quite wellnot as extreme as 2018, said Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy, the new estates manager, formerly the winemaking director at Clerc Milon, now overseeing winemaking for Mouton Rothschild, Clerc Milon and dArmailhac, following the retirement of Philippe Dhallhuin last year. There was no excessive heat, no sunburn damage, no blockage on the vines. It was an extremely early vintage, but, because of the earlier budbreak, it was also a long growing season180 days. Usually, it is around 178 days. I asked Danjoy about the slightly lower alcohols this year, given the overall heat of the vintage. I dont know whythe sugars never went up toward the end. The vines appeared fine. The tannins were getting more and more polished. We also dont have really high acidity. As for the styles of the 2020s, Danjoy commented, We have cool wines from a hot vintage. There was no heat spell just before the harvestno cause for jamminess. Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, chairman and CEO of Baron Philippe de Rothschild, commented, This vintage is freshest compared to the other two (2018 and 2019). And there is a great complexity of tannins. Whats happening in the barrels with the winesthere is a multilayered, complexity to the tannins. These wines handle the barrelsthey are like an oxygen sink. Usually, it's the more structured vintages that behave like this. Its incredible. The grand vin at Mouton was something of an enigma for me during my tastings. It seemed to have more mid-palate density and layers than many other Pauillacs, and with a touch more tension too (from acid concentration as opposed to dilution). Then I remembered those deep, deep gravels on the Mouton plateau at the heart of the vineyard. While these free-draining gravels can force Moutons vines to really struggle in very dry, warmer vintages (such as 2018), no doubt they will have offered a distinct advantage during the period of heavy rains in mid-August and the rains toward the end of harvest. Chalk one up for terroir!

RP 93/100

Drink Date:2025 - 2045