What a nose of blackberries, blackcurrants, minerals and graphite. Full-bodied, extremely fine and polished. Sexy and ethereal. Harmony. A little salty. Fabulous 2012. Pure silk. Better after 2020 but so wonderful now. Date: Feb 2015; Rating: 97 Points; James Suckling

Tasted blind at the 2012 Southwold tasting, the 2012 Mouton-Rothschild showed magnificently (as it subsequently did in a vertical just a few weeks later). It has an open, intense bouquet with pencil lead and cedar infusing the black fruit, tertiary in style at first but then transforming with aeration to a more marine-influenced bouquet—seaweed and iodine. The palate is medium-bodied with supple ripe blackberry and boysenberry fruit. The tannins are ripe and fine, the acidity very well judged with a velvety, detailed finish that lingers long in the mouth. Density and harmony combine to make a stunning Mouton-Rothschild that should be afforded 15 years in bottle. It might be destined to be one of those wines forever eclipsed by recent outstanding vintages. Tasted January 2016. Date: Jan 2026; Rating: 96 Points; Lisa Neal Martin; Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate