Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1988

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Nuanced ruby colour. Dense, spicy, exotic nose with definite ingredient X. Not rich but very pure and very Mouton with its grace notes of warm flint stones. Long and nuanced. Really appetising and aristocratic."

JAMES SUCKLING: "There's licorice here along with mint, some lead pencil and flowers. It's full and round displaying wonderful vanilla and plum flavors. Very silky and refined yet dense and caressing. A beauty, though it does turn a little dry, always revealing its wood."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Very pretty aromas of vanilla, tobacco, berry and chocolate. Medium- to full-bodied, with soft tannins and a berry, chocolate finish. Not very dense. This pales compared with the other top Pauillacs. I never thought this was a perfect wine, but it gives great pleasure.--'88/'98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Drink now. 20,000 cases made."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, sehr gute Farbtiefe, violette Reflexe, zarter Wasserrand. In der Nase feines Unterholz, balsamisch, zarte Trüffelnote, am Gaumen elegant, samtige Textur, sehr elegant, fein verwoben, mittlere Länge, nahtlos, delikate Frucht, feines Schokotannin im Finish, frische rotbeerige Anklänge im Abgang. Recht ident 2006: Fein schokoladig, trüffelige Nuancen, dunkle Beerenfrucht, etwas Vanille. Am Gaumen rassig und frisch, kernige, feste Tannine, hat eine sehr gute Struktur, mineralische Substanz, präziser Stil."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Firm, classic, austere and structured, the tannins have a rustic quality that takes away from the cassis, cedar and tobacco filled character. This is not a poor example of a classic Pauillac, but it's certainly not a wine I'd pour as a great example of a First Growth. My guess is, further aging is not going to add much. At close to 30 years of age, it is, what it is."