Petit Mouton, Pauillac, 2023, 75cl

The 2023 Le Petit Mouton offers up aromas of cassis, burning embers and cigar wrapper, framed by a touch of toasty oak. Full-bodied, ample and fleshy, it's rich, dense and layered, with an ample core of fruit and ripe structuring tannins.

At just over 80 hectares planted to vine, Mouton Rothschild, with its deep gravel soils, preponderance of old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon and distinctive style, is one of Bordeaux's most characterful wines. Today, under technical director Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy (who took the reins after stints at Opus One and Clerc Milon), the estate doesn't rest on its laurels: Mouton now hosts its very own research-and-development department, with its own experimental winery, and all sorts of projects are underway. In the vineyards, canopy management is being adapted on a site-by-site basis, with higher or lower hedging depending on the soils' hydrological profile; cover crops are increasingly part of the estate's strategy; drainage is being optimized in certain parcels; and a massal-selection program, housed in an in-house nursery, has been launched. In the winery, the parcel-by-parcel approach continues.