1996 Ch. Mouton-Rothschild, Pauillac

The big question for many has been which is the better wine, the 95 or 96. For us the comparison is unfair, but the 1996 is a classic in the making, a big powerful wine which is likely to be aclaimed for many years to come.

The 1996 Ch. Mouton-Rothschild is showing surprising forwardness and complexity in its aromatics. It possesses an exuberant, flamboyant bouquet of roasted coffee, cassis, smoky oak, and soy sauce. The impressive 1996 Mouton-Rothschild offers impressive aromas of black currants, framboise, coffee, and new saddle leather. This full-bodied, ripe, rich, concentrated, superbly balanced wine is paradoxical in the sense that the aromatics suggest a far more evolved wine than the flavors reveal.
(Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - Apr 1999) 

This is an excellent Mouton-Rothschild that might warrant a higher score if it continues to improve. It has a “classic” Pauillac nose of graphite, pencil shavings and tobacco, later a whiff of a mahogany bureau in a stately home. The palate is medium-bodied with firm, quite austere tannins, but wonderful balance and the tension that the 2000 so badly needs. Very harmonious and youthful towards the finish. It actually reminds me of the 1986 in some ways. Superb.
(Neal Martin- The Wine Advocate- February 2011)