2017 Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux

Tasted blind. Deep ruby-purple colour. Big, bold, smoky nose with plenty of exotic spice overlaying brambly dark fruit. Huge tannic structure matched by plush fruit and very sweetly spiced oak. This is as glossy as the vintage gets without being overdone. Long and smoky finish lined with very persistent, ripe tannins. Chocolatey yet serious, this is very expressive already but needs time to knit together fully.Drink 2027 - 2045tom_parker_mw, JancisRobinson.com (October 2021)

Graphite, black chocolate, pencil lead, blackberry and liquorice. This is serious, not holding back on its confident sense of power and depth. 100% new oak coming through as toasted grilled almond aromatics; this has no issue settling in for the long term and will deliver over the next two to three decades. Easy to love.Drink 2027 - 2050jane_anson_mw, Decanter.com (November 2019)

The top 2017 Chateau Mouton Rothschild checks in as 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot that spent 18 months in new barrels. This rock star of a wine offers stunning notes of chocolately blackcurrants, toasted spice, espresso roast, and loads of classic Pauillac lead pencil shavings and graphite nuances. It's another wine that starts out slowly yet builds incrementally on the palate with full-bodied richness, ripe, polished tannin, no hard edges, and a stunning sense of purity and elegance. Give bottles upwards of a decade; it will evolve for 30 years or more.Drink 2020 - 2050jeb_dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (February 2020)

The 2017 Mouton-Rothschild is lucid in colour and quite deep, like the Le Petit Mouton. It has a pixelated bouquet with precise blackberry, raspberry and crushed stone aromas, and the oak is seamlessly integrated so the aromatics have an unerring focus. The palate is medium-bodied with a graphite-tinged entry that is actually reminiscent of Latour in many ways. This Mouton-Rothschild is all about finesse and poise, the acidity beautifully judged and with superb tension on the finish. One of the finest Left Bank wines of the vintage, there are few 2017s superior to this.Drink 2025 - 2055Neil Martin, Vinous.com.com (September 2019)

The 2017 Mouton Rothschild has one of the highest percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon ever at 90%, with 9% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot. Very deep purple-black in color, the nose is already singing of crushed black currants, warm blackberries and chocolate-covered cherries with hints of violets, star anise, cinnamon stick and cloves plus wafts of pencil lead and unsmoked cigars. Medium-bodied, wonderfully delicate yet intense in the mouth (gaining some richness in the mid-palate on my second taste two and a half weeks later), it has super fine-grained, smooth tannins and incredible freshness, finishing very long with tons of tightly wound layers. Wow. This vintage is going to be very long-lived in the cellar!Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 27/04/2018

This is a very shy and tight Mouton with blackberries, blackcurrants and hints of terracotta. Full body and very integrated tannins that are extremely polished and beautiful. Spicy and white-pepper finish. Sexy and exciting. So long and refined. james_suckling - jamessuckling_com - April 2018