Critics drove Mouton to cut Cab Franc

Mouton Rothschild’s director Philippe Dhalluin has told how a negative critical response to his first vintage at the estate led him to reassess dramatically its use of Cabernet Franc in the blend.

Presenting a vertical flight covering the decade since he joined the Bordeaux first growth shortly after the 2003 harvest, Dhalluin told guests at the event hosted by Bonhams in London that he decided to remove Cabernet Franc from the final blend entirely after a lukewarm response to his maiden 2004 vintage.

“2004 was nearly a disaster,” he remarked. “In 2004 people were so critical that I said I won’t put any more Cabernet Franc in this wine because it is too soon for critics to understand at this stage.”

After a token 1% of Cabernet Franc featured in his 2005 blend, Dhalluin then removed the variety entirely, reporting: “Even though in vintages like ‘05 and ’08 the Cabernet Franc was exceptional I didn’t put it back in until 2011.”

Even after its reintroduction, the proportion of Cabernet Franc in the grand vin has been significantly lower at 2-4% than before. In 2004 it accounted for 13% of the final blend, while in 2003 the variety was a smaller but still significant 8%.

Although praising Mouton’s expression of Cabernet Franc as “very special”, Dhalluin noted the challenge of working with this grape at the blending stage.

“The maturity of this variety is so complete and very salty, which is an advantage in a blend except in the first month,” he commented. “It is an exceptional part of the backbone of the wine but is very complicated to put in the blend because its balance is difficult to match with other grape varieties. It really takes a year.”

This decision to remove Cabernet Franc in 2005 coincided with the disappearance of Petit Verdot from Mouton Rothschild as well. However, Dhalluin confirmed that this variety too is due to make a comeback in future, explaining that he had decided to pull up the vines and replant in a better suited site.

“It has now been replanted in a perfect plot on the estate,” he reported, “but it is too young to go into our grand vin or even our second wine. To me it’s an exceptional grape variety in good terroir, but you need to find the right plot to ripen it.”

Richard Harvey MW of Bonhams (left) introduces Philippe Dhalluin of Mouton Rothschild

Having trained under the late oenologist Emile Peynaud and previously worked at St Julien estate Branaire Ducru, Dhalluin made one further major change upon arriving at Mouton Rothschild by reducing the proportion of grapes used to make the grand vin.

“I wanted to focus on the real core of what Mouton Rothschild is,” he recalled. “The key point is selection. Instead of 70-80% of total production, today I keep only 50% [for the grand vin]. The main evolution is the rigour of selection.”

This move had the knock-on effect of increasing production of the estate’s second wine, Le Petit Mouton, which now accounts for around 25% of production and often features much of the Cabernet Franc that was removed from the top blend.

Supporting this step up in selection is Mouton’s new vat room, which has been in action since its 2012 vintage. In addition to noting the gentle handling of fruit permitted by its gravity flow design, Dhalluin highlighted the increased opportunity for vinifying parcels individually.

“We have 44 vats instead of 28,” he observed. “The total capacity is the same but they are smaller vats in four different sizes. It’s a tool very precisely adapted to the terroir of Mouton and gives us the flexibility to blend. It’s really an improvement being able to discover the character of different plots.”

As speculation turns to Bordeaux’s 2014 en primeur campaign, with merchants urging châteaux to lower their prices, Dhalluin indicated that there would be little grounds for making such a move on the basis of quality.

“I don’t want to be too optimistic but I really believe we have wines that will seduce the consumer and professional at the end of March,” he claimed.

Commenting on the final phase 2014 vintage, Dhalluin recalled: “The weather was absolutely incredible; there was not a drop of rain so we were able to achieve exceptional maturity of the grapes and slow maturity.”

As a result, he commented: “I am a bit enthusiastic and hope it will be well judged by the critics. The only little exception is that we don’t have a lot of volume – it’s a bit higher than 2013 but not much. I hope it will be a good surprise.”

The Bonhams tasting took place ahead of a major fine wine sale by the auction house on 19 February. Featuring wines from “a passionate wine collector in Spain”, the 200 lots have a particularly strong focus on Bordeaux.

Highlights include a magnum of 1953 Pétrus with a £4,000-5,000 reserve; a case of Latour 1945, which carries a reserve of £18,000-25,000; and numerous mature vintages of Mouton Rothschild, most notably two bottles of Mouton Rothschild 1945 with a reserve of £5,000-6,000.

The sale follows on from a successful 2014 for Bonham’s wine department, which achieved total global sales of £7.3 million. Of the top 10 buyers at the auction house’s London sales last year, more than 25% were based in south-east Asia.