Mouton Rothschild 1. Cru Pauillac 1999 75 cl

Tasted blind as a vintage comparison at the Valandraud vertical, the 1999 Mouton-Rothschild is a “useful,” perhaps over-looked vintage from the First Growth estate. It has a clean and precise bouquet – you could almost describe this as dainty, which I mean in a positive sense. The fruit is beautifully delineated, almost pastille-like with subtle floral scents emerging with time. The palate is fresh on the entry with supple red berries pierced by a fine line of acidity. No, it is not complex and it has lost a little substance in recent years, yet it is well balanced with sufficient depth and body on the tobacco and cedar-tinged finish. If you can put its status aside, it boils down to nothing more than a well-made, easygoing and refined Pauillac to drink now and over the next decade. Tasted December 2016.

Robert Parker 92 point.