1978 Mouton Rothschild, any views?

Hi,
I might enter a 1978 Mouton Rothschild into a tasting on Thursday (mature Bordaux vs mature Californians).

Does anyone know anything about how this wine is rated at present?

Cheers, Anders

From our Mouton vertical in Feb 2006:

Round and a bit watery. Warm fruit. Long finish. Much better than expected. Thought it would be way over the hill, but not so much. On the downward slope perhaps.
B

Thanks Matt!
Any others? I can't find any notes on the web, I'd be happy if someone could.
Cheers, Anders

Andres, here are notes from Cellar Tracker:

1978 Château Mouton Rothschild (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac)

Community Tasting Notes (average 91.4 pts. in 13 notes)

Tasted by LoireFan on 8/6/2007 & rated 92 points: Wonderful - killer nose. Poor fill and super ugly cork. But still, worth the $. (334 views)

Tasted by jhpwine on 3/30/2007: still some life left, showing age but good fruit and still very fine (78 views)

Tasted by DFC on 11/17/2006 & rated 90 points: Audouzed for 90 minutes, and then decanted off sediment. Medium-bodied wine that is medium garnet in color with light bricking and a clear rim. On the nose, loads of cedar, some cassis, and a hint of anise. On the palate, cassis, lead pencil, and spice box with a long 20-30 second finish. Enjoyable aged Bordeaux, but not presenting First Growth material. The nose was better than the palate...this one is in the midst of its gradual decline, so best drink up. (891 views)

Tasted by winefool on 10/7/2006 & rated 93 points: (1st growth tasting). Deep red color with some lightening. Full aroma of red fruit and briar. Big black/red fruit and briar on the palate. Long finish. Score faded just a bit with time in glass. (705 views)

Tasted by LoireFan on 5/31/2006 & rated 90 points: A bit disappointing. (1129 views)

Tasted by xwine on 2/10/2006: Fairly consistent with the last bottle, but more advanced. Faded quickly. (1439 views)
Tasted by MRichman on 2/9/2006: Mouton Vertical at Hearth in NYC (Hearth Restaurant): Round and a bit watery. Warm fruit. Long finish. Much better than expected. Thought it would be way over the hill, but not so much. On the downward slope perhaps.
B (577 views)

Tasted by LoireFan on 1/14/2006 & rated 94 points: Shining! Fruit, elegance and acids. (1431 views)

Tasted by LoireFan on 11/2/2005 & rated 93 points: A great bottle! Needed a few hours of decanting before it really showed its stuff. Very underrated wine. (1597 views)

Tasted by bevort on 10/28/2005 & rated 85 points: Winemakers Dinner Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (NOMA): Jeroboam (5l bottle)

If anything a bottle this size should have kept the wine more fresh, but I didnt find that.

Ruby Color. The nose is very earthy inspired and its taste very round and mature though not very deep and lacking in concentration. Slightest of dryness at the end which actually matched the fat and very tasty Nordic cheeses well. (2408 views)

Tasted by xwine on 3/21/2005: Drinking this wine I was reminded of Mark Twain ("The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated") and Monty Python ("I'm not dead yet!"). Based on what I've been reading, I expected this to be a bit dried out, but was happy to find a very drinkable -- though not majestic -- old Bordeaux. Great wine? No. But it is still graceful and charming. Some very nice forest floor aromas, with sweet oak nuances and plum on the palate. Tannins fully resolved, not surprisingly. Though it's fading, and in the afterglow of its life, it's not a dead soldier. Then again, my storage conditions are very good. (1623 views)

Regards, Bob

Thanks a lot Bob!
Very nice to get this collection of notes!
I'll enter the wine in the tasting on Thursday and hope it will show well.
Cheers, Anders

I havbe always preferred the 1976, but having said that the 78 has performed reasonably for me.

Some notes:


1978 Mouton Rothschild - I have had this wine many times and it has been getting progressively more tired, but can still show some interest at times. The nose on this bottle was quite dusty, which is not characteristic, but that passed a bit with airing. Other than that, as expected - the tannin of the early years has now softened, but much of the fruit (it never had enough, really) has also gone. Not bad in the middle, it tailed off pretty quickly at the end. Better to die among friends like us, than alone in a cellar somewhere, unappreciated....

Some bottles have been better than this, others worse. Pull the cork and hope for a decent bottle. You may be pleasantly surprised.