Cabernet sauvignon now makes up a higher share of Mouton Rothschild blends than in previous decades, says Ariane Khaida, executive director of Château wines for Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA.Pierre Grenet/Noble Estates
The changing climate in Bordeaux has led the industry to welcome new grape varieties into its vineyards to maintain quality winemaking in the future, but the team responsible for Château Mouton Rothschild and other stand-out prosperities in Pauillac welcome what they see as “the golden age of cabernet sauvignon.”
“We have never had cabernet sauvignon so mature, so well balanced,” says Ariane Khaida, executive director of Château wines for Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA since 2020. She oversees operations at Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Clerc Milon and Château d’Armailhac and sits on the board of directors for Opus One in Napa, California and Almaviva in Maipo, Chile.
Khaida explains that cabernet sauvignon represented roughly 75 per cent of Mouton Rothschild blends in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. The signature grape of Bordeaux’s Left Bank, which includes the Médoc region home to sub-appellations such as Pauillac, Saint-Julien and Margaux, has risen to be 84 to 93 per cent of recent blends of the legendary red wine.
“The wines are so gorgeous,” she says. “Each time you add something else, you feel that you lose this wonderful vibration. You do not want to touch it.”
Even in 2022, one of the hottest and driest growing seasons on record, Rothschild’s wineries produced powerful wines that are still balanced and age-worthy thanks to their fresh character. (Mouton Rothschild 2022 received numerous outstanding scores, including perfect scores from critics Jeb Dunnuck and James Suckling.)
“If 2022 will be the conditions of tomorrow, we can be more than happy because that vintage is incredible,” Khaida says.
Extreme weather creates challenges for France’s winemakers
In 2020, winemaking rules in Bordeaux changed to allow six additional grape varieties, including late-ripening whites and reds like alvarinho and touriga nacional. They are permitted to be up to 10 per cent of a final blend labelled as Bordeaux but aren’t allowed in subregions like Pauillac.
Red wine blends based on earlier-ripening merlot grapes from other parts of Bordeaux face more challenges. Rising temperatures mean grapes ripen more quickly and risk producing wines with higher alcohols and lower acidity. There are concerns that Bordeaux wine in the future will have less potential for aging and that subtle flavours will be replaced by cooked fruit and jammy notes.
As a result, the approach to farming is different than 20 years ago. Grape growers are leaving more leaves to shield clusters from direct sunlight, while reducing the size of the canopy to decrease the vine’s photosynthetic capacity helps to make wines with lower alcohol levels. (Some producers are also increasing plantings of varieties like malbec and carménère that were seen as less important locally but have proven themselves as strong suits in warmer Chile and Argentina vineyards.)
“We have to think about what is going to happen in 20 years, but what we are tasting in 2025 is really special,” Khaida says.