Wine's world

Mouton-Rothschild has just unveiled the label for its new 2022 vintage.

Designed by French artist Gérard Garouste, it celebrates the centenary of the arrival of Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) at Château Mouton-Rothschild.

It was in 1922 that the de Rothschild family decided to entrust Philippe, then aged 22, with the direction and management of Château Mouton-Rothschild. He became totally involved, imposing from 2024 that bottling, which until then had been the responsibility of the wine merchants, should be carried out at the Château, entirely under his own responsibility.

The label features a triptych of the ram (beyond its allusion to Mouton, french word for a sheep but which really means ‘little mountain’, the ram is a symbol of courage and willpower, as well as Baron Philippe's zodiac sign), the façade of the Mouton-Rothschild cellar and Baron Philippe.

La Revue du Vin de France (#686 December 2024) has published a very interesting study by Jérôme Baudouin about the evolution of Médoc estates classified in 1855.

At first glance, it seems clear that the cadastral surface areas of the Médoc's crus classés have increased enormously since 1855. Some striking examples as Lascombes (Margaux), which has grown from 7.2 hectares in 1855 to 120 hectares today, and more recently La Tour Carnet (Haut-Médoc), which has grown from 45 hectares in 1999 to 230 hectares today.

However, of the 60 crus classés, 14, nearly a quarter, have kept the same area of vines as in 1855:
- in Margaux : Dauzac, Pouget, Kirwan, Cantenac-Brown, Margaux
- in Saint-Julien : Lagrange, Beychevelle, Gruaud-Larose
- in Pauillac : d'Armailhac, Grand-Puy Ducasse, Grand-Puy Lacoste
- in Saint-Estèphe : Cos Labory, Calon-Ségur
- in Haut-Médoc : Cantemerle

et 6 have increased their surface area by less than 20% in 170 years:
- in Margaux : Rauzan-Gassies, d'Issan, Palmer
- in Saint-Julien : Branaire-Ducru
- in Pauillac : Lynch-Moussas, Pontet-Canet

Not to mention Château Dubignon, Margaux's 3rd Cru Classé, which has since disappeared, having been bought up and taken over by another 3rd Cru Classé, Château Malescot-Saint-Exupéry, in 1865.

A benchmark indicator of the market for fine Burgundy wines, last Sunday's Hospices de Beaune auction of wines from the 2024 vintage saved the day, with prices largely sustained by the small volumes on offer.

A few key figures:

- in terms of volume, only 439 barrels of 228 litres, the 3rd lowest quantity since 1980, after 2021 (349 barrels) and 1981 (429 barrels),

- value: €13.9m, making it the 4th highest sale after 2022 (€29.0m), 2023 (€23.3m) and 2020 (€14.3m),

- In terms of average price per unit compared with last year, white wines are up by 8% and red wines are down by 5%.

This is despite strong growth in demand from Korea : the Hospices have a Korean oenologist (Ms Jeannie Cho Lee) as a consultant since this year.