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Château Mouton Rothschild 2005
RedFrance2005
By Daniel Min · Guide (not yet tasted) · Published 2026-09-09 · Updated 2026-09-09
At a glance
Wine Advocate (Robert Parker) 96 (Apr 2008) → 99+ (Dec 2014) → 97 (Jun 2015) · Wine Advocate (Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW) 98+ (Jul 2022) · James Suckling 98 (Oct 2015) · Wine Spectator 98 · Decanter 99 · Jeb Dunnuck 100 (Apr 2024) · Jane Anson 100 (Sep 2022) · Vinous (Neal Martin) 97 (Jun 2025) · Vinous (Antonio Galloni) 98 · Wine Enthusiast 95 · Jancis Robinson MW 18.5/20 (Mar 2017) · Vivino's listed critic score 98
Market note: 2005 is the vintage the Left Bank calls one of the greats. Parker rated this wine three times, moving from 96 to 99+ to 97, and since 2022 both Jane Anson and Jeb Dunnuck have given it 100. On Vivino the estate's 2000, 2009, 2010 and 2016 sit at the same 4.7 as the 2005.
What this wine is
Pauillac, on Bordeaux's Left Bank. Nathaniel de Rothschild bought Château Brane-Mouton in 1853 and renamed it Château Mouton Rothschild, but two years later the 1855 classification ranked it a second growth. For more than a century the label carried the line "First I cannot be, second I do not deign to be, Mouton I am." Baron Philippe de Rothschild took over in 1922 at the age of twenty, forced through full château bottling in 1924 — radical in Bordeaux at the time — and in the same year commissioned the poster artist Jean Carlu to design an Art Deco label. Then, in 1945, Philippe Jullian drew the Churchillian 'V' for victory, and with it began the tradition of giving every vintage's label to a different artist. Braque, Dalí, Miró, Chagall, Picasso, Warhol, Bacon, Keith Haring and Jeff Koons are all in that line. In 1973 Mouton became the only estate ever to have the 1855 classification revised in its favour; the label that year was Picasso's Bacchanale, and the motto changed to "First I am, second I was, Mouton does not change." A note on the name: Mouton Cadet, which sounds similar, is a cheap generic Bordeaux brand from the same company and a completely different thing (I gave the 2016 three stars).
The 2005 label was drawn by the Italian artist Giuseppe Penone. Born in Garessio, Piedmont, in 1947 and trained in Turin, he became a central figure of Arte Povera in the late 1960s. His farmer father left him with a lifelong subject — trees, leaves, roots — and a method: casting, rubbing and imprinting, acting as a "revealer" of nature rather than its illustrator. The Pompidou Centre gave him a retrospective in 2004; Mouton gave him the label the following year. In the château's own words, the drawing evokes the vine-grower's "green fingers": a living expansion of the vine leaf and, at the same time, the splayed hand of the drinker about to close round a glass of Mouton. Along the bottom runs the line "Dessin inédit de Giuseppe Penone 2005" — an unpublished drawing by Giuseppe Penone — with the artist's signature.
2005 was a year of an unusually cold winter followed by near-total drought from April to September. Picking ran from 21 September to 6 October in dry weather. Mouton blended 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc, macerated for 15–25 days in 225-hectolitre wooden vats, then spent 20 months in new oak alone. Alcohol reached 13.5%, among the highest in the estate's history, and Philippe Dhalluin — technical director from 2004 — kept only 64% of the crop for the grand vin, the strictest selection of any recent vintage there. Around 300,000 bottles were made.
What the world says
It is quicker to list the scores. Robert Parker revisited this wine three times: 94–96 from barrel in 2006, 96 points in April 2008, 99+ in December 2014, 97 in June 2015. His colleague Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW gave it 98+ in July 2022. James Suckling 98 (October 2015), Wine Spectator 98, Decanter 99, Wine Enthusiast 95, Neal Martin for Vinous 97 (June 2025), Antonio Galloni 98, Jancis Robinson MW 18.5/20 (March 2017). Then, in September 2022, Jane Anson gave it 100, and in April 2024 so did Jeb Dunnuck. From the mid-90s to a hundred: a wine whose score has kept climbing for twenty years. Drinking windows vary by critic, but most now run from the mid-2020s out to 2050–2065.
The Vivino numbers are simpler. 3,272 people have rated the 2005 an average of 4.7 — 1,792 of them at 5 stars, 1,346 in the 4s, which puts 96% at four or above. Across all vintages of the label, 92,483 ratings average 4.6. The 2005 is also the most heavily rated year Mouton has. In Vivino's rankings it sits 87th of 3.36 million French wines, 415th of 12.35 million worldwide, and first in Pauillac. Structure: tannin 4.1/5, acidity 4.1, intensity 4.0, sweetness 1.7 — the firmest and most acidic wine covered in this magazine so far. The keywords lead with tobacco (935), oak (810) and cedar (635); leather (1,135), earth (470), smoke (434), mushroom (242) and graphite (214) sit right alongside cassis (705) and blackberry (554). Earth and oak speak before fruit here.
"Dark purple-black in colour. Complex aromas of mineral, licorice, lead pencil and blackberry follow through to a full body, with ultrafine tannins and a caressing finish. Lovely texture, elegant and refined." — Vivino review, May 2013, 5 stars
"Perfect — did not disappoint despite my very high expectations. It will keep ageing beautifully, but I couldn't help opening it now. Glad I did." — Vivino review, Nov 2018, 5 stars
"The hype is real. Already flirting with perfection but it needs another decade or two. For now: 98 points." — Vivino review, Feb 2019, 5 stars
"Opened four hours before serving, including two hours in decanter. Powerful, intense, fresh and minty, with depth and concentration. Will age well." — Vivino review, May 2019, 4.5 stars
Look at the vintage curve and this label almost never drops below 4.4. Within that, the years at 4.7 are roughly 1982, 1986, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2016 — and of those, 2005 has by far the thickest sample.
How I drank it
A disclosure first. This bottle is not mine. I had been keeping it for someone else, and today I hand it back. 2005 is the year their daughter was born. So this is not a tasting note; it is a record made before opening.
I have not tasted the 2005. There is nothing I can honestly write about how it tastes. What I do have is five Moutons in my Vivino log.
- 1987 — 5 December 2021, 5.0
- 2014 — 14 October 2025, 4.0
- Aile d'Argent Blanc 2020 (Mouton's white) — same day, 4.5
- 1988 — 9 January 2026, 4.5
- 1987 again — 15 May 2026, 5.0
The longest note I ever wrote went to the 1987, on 5 December 2021, five stars:
"I was worried the moment I cut the foil — there was an enormous amount of mould. As I started to open it I could feel the cork turning. Ah… the feeling that it had gone over, that I was about to drink vinegar. I raised the opener carefully and the cork broke at the very end; I bitterly regretted not driving the screw deeper. But I put the opener back in, gently, and got the whole thing out. Carefully into the decanter, carefully again into the glass — and what was left in the glass was clear liquid only. The look was far healthier than I expected, with what felt like a living layer of transparency; there were a great many layers and they were very thick. I had expected garnet at the core and the colour was far too healthy for that. The nose came at once, a piercing composite: complex fruit, of course, and then a secondary mint-freshness the oak must have made, a refined vanilla with a very sweet feel. The tertiary maturity was not the dead-leaf, mushroom character of old bottles but something smooth and fresh, like walking through a bright forest. Altogether a firm, structured nose that made you expect the palate." — my note, 5 Dec 2021, 5 stars
Four and a half years later, on 15 May 2026, I opened the 1987 again and gave it five stars again. The bottles alongside it that day were Château Pétrus 2017 (4.0), Stag's Leap SLV Cabernet 2008 (4.5) and Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru 'Les Corbeaux' (4.0) — the Mouton 1987 was the top score of the evening. The day I gave the 2014 a 4.0, 14 October 2025, was also an Opus One 2018 (4.0), Overture (4.5) and Mondavi To Kalon Reserve (4.5) day; since Opus One is Mouton's joint venture with Robert Mondavi, that line-up was no accident. On 9 January 2026, the night of the 1988 (4.5), there were only two bottles: that and Cloudy Bay Te Koko 2021 (4.0).
Set the numbers side by side. Vivino's vintage averages are 4.5 for 1987 (1,206 ratings), 4.5 for 1988 (2,832), 4.6 for 2014 (1,325) and 4.7 for 2005 (3,272). My own scores run half a point above the community on the 1987, level on the 1988, and 0.6 below on the 2014. On critics' numbers the 2005 stands at the very top of the label — Parker 97, Spectator 98, Decanter 99, Dunnuck 100. And yet the highest score I have ever given a Mouton went to the 1987, a year the community rates lower. Which is to say I have no idea where the 2005 will land in my log until I open it. Today I keep only a photograph of Penone's green fingers, and the bottle goes home. The score goes in whenever I drink it.
Where this wine shows up
Château Mouton Rothschild 1982 is the wine in the blind tasting duel between Shizuku Kanzaki and Issei Tomine, with the Kanzaki family estate at stake. The manga likens it to Millet's painting The Angelus.
Kami no Shizuku wine list — volume 1 · Comic Gourmet — Kami no Shizuku vol. 1 wine list
In the closing shipboard scene, Mr Wint poses as a waiter and pours "Mouton Rothschild '55". Bond remarks that for such a grand meal he had expected a claret; Wint says the cellar is poorly stocked with clarets, and Bond answers, "Mouton Rothschild IS a claret", exposing him.
IMDb — Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Quotes · James Bond Lifestyle — Château Mouton Rothschild
Balthus' drawing of a reclining young girl cleared the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, but caused offence on release. Baroness Philippine de Rothschild withdrew the bottles already on the American market and asked for the approval to be rescinded; a blank version keeping only the pastel ground was issued for the US.
Château Mouton Rothschild official — Balthus and the 1993 label · IWFS — Ask Sid: Most controversial Mouton wine label?
On 5 December 2021 the capsule came off covered in mould, and the cork snapped on the way out. What reached the glass had no business looking that young.
Artwork and stills are not reproduced for copyright reasons; scenes are summarised.
Vivino community data
2005 vintage rating distribution (3272 ratings, average 4.7)
| 5★ | 1792 (55%) | |
| 4★ | 1346 (41%) | |
| 3★ | 81 (2%) | |
| 2★ | 24 (1%) | |
| 1★ | 29 (1%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Oak | 4251 | tobacco 935 · oak 810 · cedar 635 · vanilla 409 · chocolate 360 |
| Earth & leather | 3430 | leather 1135 · earthy 470 · smoke 434 · mushroom 242 · graphite 214 |
| Black fruit | 3093 | cassis 705 · blackberry 554 · blackcurrant 505 · plum 363 · black fruit 361 |
| Spice | 837 | licorice 211 · pepper 169 · mint 152 · eucalyptus 62 · cinnamon 59 |
| Red fruit | 822 | cherry 310 · red fruit 204 · raspberry 105 · strawberry 57 · cranberry 35 |
| Floral | 215 | violet 98 · perfume 51 · rose petal 19 · lilac 11 · lavender 8 |
| Dried fruit | 210 | prune 93 · raisin 43 · dried fruit 30 · fig 27 |
Structure: Acidity 4.1/5 · Intensity 4.0/5 · Tannin 4.1/5 · Sweetness 1.7/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 92483 ratings, average 4.6)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4.3 | 63 |
| 2022 | 4.5 | 89 |
| 2021 | 4.2 | 208 |
| 2020 | 4.5 | 207 |
| 2019 | 4.5 | 390 |
| 2018 | 4.6 | 478 |
| 2017 | 4.6 | 1145 |
| 2016 | 4.7 | 965 |
| 2015 | 4.6 | 1297 |
| 2014 | 4.6 | 1325 |
| 2013 | 4.4 | 1021 |
| 2012 | 4.5 | 1634 |
| 2011 | 4.6 | 1750 |
| 2010 | 4.7 | 1334 |
| 2009 | 4.7 | 1923 |
| 2008 | 4.6 | 1593 |
| 2007 | 4.6 | 2147 |
| 2006 | 4.6 | 1958 |
| 2005 | 4.7 | 3272 |
| 2004 | 4.6 | 2884 |
| 2003 | 4.6 | 2760 |
| 2002 | 4.6 | 2460 |
| 2001 | 4.6 | 3293 |
| 2000 | 4.7 | 1634 |
| 1999 | 4.6 | 2573 |
| 1998 | 4.6 | 2734 |
| 1997 | 4.6 | 1873 |
| 1996 | 4.6 | 3109 |
| 1995 | 4.6 | 3561 |
| 1994 | 4.5 | 2408 |
| 1993 | 4.5 | 2763 |
| 1992 | 4.4 | 1431 |
| 1991 | 4.5 | 1018 |
| 1990 | 4.6 | 3395 |
| 1989 | 4.6 | 3247 |
| 1988 | 4.5 | 2832 |
| 1987 | 4.5 | 1206 |
| 1986 | 4.7 | 3088 |
| 1985 | 4.6 | 2499 |
| 1984 | 4.4 | 965 |
| 1983 | 4.5 | 1668 |
| 1982 | 4.7 | 2651 |
| 1981 | 4.4 | 1139 |
| 1980 | 4.4 | 576 |
My record
I have not tasted this one myself yet. It is one of the most searched-for wines, so the research came first; my score and note will be added here the day I open a bottle.
Frequently asked questions
What is Château Mouton Rothschild 2005?
A red from a first-growth estate in Pauillac, Bordeaux: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 13.5% alcohol, 20 months in new oak. 2005 was a dry year from spring to autumn and is counted among the Left Bank's great vintages; Mouton used only 64% of its crop for the grand vin. Parker 97, Wine Spectator 98, Decanter 99, Jeb Dunnuck 100, Vivino 4.7 from 3,272 ratings.
How much does it cost?
At overseas retail: €599–725 ex-tax at bestofwines.com in the Netherlands, €1,075 a bottle at Millesima in France, £800 duty-paid at Hedonism in London, and C$2,300 at Canada's LCBO (checked September 2026). The Wine-Searcher world average was not reachable this time. Magnums (1.5L) start around €1,475.
What food goes with it?
Vivino users say beef, lamb, poultry and game. With tannin at 4.1/5 and acidity at 4.1 this is a structural wine, so fatty red meat is the safe route. In Korean terms, salt-seasoned grilled sirloin or tenderloin and lamb chops work better than marinated cuts — heavy soy-and-sugar marinades bury the cedar and graphite side. Serve at 16–18°C; many reviews decant young bottles for around two hours.
Who painted the 2005 label?
The Italian Arte Povera artist Giuseppe Penone, born 1947. Mouton has given every vintage's label to a different artist since 1945 — Braque, Dalí, Miró, Chagall, Picasso, Warhol, Bacon, Keith Haring, Jeff Koons among them — and 2005 was Penone's turn. In the château's own words the drawing evokes the vine-grower's 'green fingers': the vine leaf expanding into life and, at once, the drinker's open hand about to close round a glass. The label carries the line "Dessin inédit de Giuseppe Penone 2005" and the artist's signature.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data (2005 vintage)
- Château Mouton Rothschild official — Giuseppe Penone and the 2005 label
- Farr Vintners — collected critic scores for Mouton Rothschild 2005 (Parker, Suckling, Anson, Dunnuck, Martin and others)
- Berry Bros. & Rudd — 2005 Château Mouton Rothschild: blend, harvest dates, critic scores
- Lanigan & Edwards — Mouton Rothschild 2005 technical sheet (20 months new oak, 64% selection, 13.5%)