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This is the one Bordeaux lovers have been waiting for.
Today sees the release of Château Mouton Rothschild 2025, and it is, by any measure, an extraordinary wine. Three critics have awarded it a potential 100 points. Quantities are down around 40% on a normal year. And the wine itself is the kind of Mouton that reminds you exactly why the First Growths sit at the very top of Bordeaux.
And we have just 10x 3 bottle cases available.
At 98% Cabernet Sauvignon, the highest percentage on record since the 2010 vintage, the 2025 is a wine of towering structure and immense, yet restrained, power. Head winemaker Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy reflected that they had expected something similar to 2022, but what emerged was something more classic altogether: the warmth and concentration of a great vintage, married to the precision and freshness that only the best growing seasons can
deliver. Jane Anson, scoring it 98-100 points, described it as "stately and reserved at first, then totally joyful," with "the right austerity" and hidden depths that will only slowly reveal themselves over years in the cellar. James Suckling (99-100) called it "glamorous, with mesmerising perfumes" and ultra-fine tannins on an endless finish. Jeff Leve at 98 points wrote of a wine that is "opulent, flamboyant and
vibrant," yet somehow manages to feel light on its feet. This is not a wine you buy for next weekend. It is a wine you buy for the cellar, for a milestone, for the long game. At €1,100 for 3 bottles, if you want a case, please don't wait.
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For those who want to be in the Mouton stable at a more accessible price point, Le Petit Mouton 2025 is also available and is drawing exceptional scores in its own right. A blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, it's open, juicy and structured, with blackberry and blueberry character, velvety tannins and a savory, layered finish. James Suckling scores it 95-96 points. Jeb Dunnuck
called it "one hell of a second wine" and placed it among the top second wines of the entire vintage. At €445 for 3 bottles, it's a genuinely compelling way into the Mouton story.
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Also released this week, and worth a special mention for a different reason, is Château Grand Puy Lacoste 2025. This is a landmark vintage at the estate for two reasons: it marks the inauguration of a brand-new gravity-flow winery, a project a decade in the making, and to celebrate, the Borie family have bottled it in a striking all-black silkscreen bottle that makes it instantly recognisable. The wine inside is every bit as impressive
as the packaging. A blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot at 13.5% ABV, it shows aromas of cassis, flowers, blackberries and lead pencil, with a lifted, juicy and chewy palate full of round fruit and tobacco. James Suckling scores it 96-97 points, Jeff Leve 96, Jane Anson 94. Textbook Pauillac at a price that still makes sense, and a bottle that will look wonderful on any cellar shelf. We have just 10 x 6 bottle cases. At €275 for 6 bottles, this is one to move on.
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Away from Pauillac, two releases this week come from the Delon family, whose portfolio shares a common ethos across very different terroirs: wines that represent their appellation honestly, that are built to be shared over meals, that improve with age, and that reflect a constant pursuit of excellence. The first is Château Potensac in the Médoc, a wine made from 60-year-old vines, blending Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and a generous 22%
Cabernet Franc. William Kelley described it as potentially the best wine ever made at this estate, with dark berries, crème de cassis and iris on the nose, a layered, concentrated palate and a long, perfumed finish, scoring it 91-93 points. Jeff Leve went to 93 points. At €250 for 12 bottles, it is one of the most straightforward value decisions of the entire campaign, and we have 120 bottles to offer. The second Delon release is Château Nénin from Pomerol, a
sister property to Léoville Las Cases and one of the appellation's most reliably excellent estates. We'll have more detail on this one very shortly.
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As always, Will and Michael are on hand via live chat, email or phone if you'd like to talk through any of this week's releases. And if you haven't already signed up to our En Primeur mailing list, you can do so here to get first access as new wines drop.
Cheers,
Will
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Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac 1er Cru Classé 2025 En Primeur 3 Btl. Case
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Country: France Region: Bordeaux
Varietal: 98% Cabernet Sauvignon 2% Merlot
Vintage: 2024 Colour: Red Style: Dry
Producer: Chateau Mouton Rothschild
ABV: 13.5%
“Highest Cabernet Sauvignon on record (since 94% for the 2010 vintage), stately and reserved at first, then totally joyful. The right austerity, coupled with squid ink character and fabulous hidden depths that are going to take their time to fully unroll, with the incense of the oak coming through only after a good 10 minutes in the glass, you barely perceive it on the first tasting. What a beautiful Mouton, great stuff from wine director Jean-Philippe
Danjoy. 52% Grand Vin, basically pure old vine Cabernet. And an interesting side note – in September there was no weekend picking, a clear indication that there was no stress about the harvest dates. 3.76pH. Harvest September 5 to 20. 100% new oak.”
Jane Anson 98-100/100
“A glamorous wine for the vintage, with mesmerizing perfumes of flowers, al dente fruit and citrus flowers. Black currants with some mineral and stone undertones. Medium-
to full-bodied with ultra-fine tannins and an endless finish. The tannins lead you on a great trip. It is the most cabernet sauvignon ever used in the blend in recent memory. Balanced and structured. 98% cabernet sauvignon and 2% merlot..”
James Suckling 99-100/100
“Smoke, cigar box, flowers, Indian spices, cassis, blackberries, espresso, licorice, forest leaves and mint fill the aromatic profile. But here, it is the palate that owns the
night with its opulent, flamboyant, luscious, and vibrant personality. Even with all those showy characteristics, concentration, and intensity, the wine manages to feel light on its feet. By the time you have emptied your glass, the wine somehow gained weight, and the tannins turned to velvet, which is perfect to allow you to enjoy the seemingly, never ending finish.
Jeff Leve 98/100
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Le Petit Mouton 2025 En Primeur 3 Btl. Case
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Country: France Region: Bordeaux
Varietal: 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
Vintage: 2025 Colour: Red Style: Dry
Producer: Chateau Mouton Rothschild
ABV: 13.5%
"Open and juicy with a plush nature as well as a noticeable ripeness, yet it's only 13% alcohol. Medium- to full-bodied with fine, velvety tannins and a savory, flavorful finish. Juicy and layered. Structured. Plenty of blackberry and blueberry character. A blend of 58% cabernet sauvignon, 36% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 3%petitverdot. "
95-96pts JamesSuckling.com
"Ripe cassis, black raspberries, chocolate, spicy and smoky graphite nuances all define the 2025 LePetit MoutonDeMouton, the second wine ofMoutonRothschild and in the running for the top second wine in the vintage. Based on 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc,
and the restPetitVerdot that's resting in 50% new oak, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a round, layered mouthfeel, ripe, pure, precise tannins, and a great finish. It's one hell of a second wine. "
94-96pts Jeb Dunnuck
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Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste Pauillac 2025 En Primeur 6 Btl. Case
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Country: France Region: Bordeaux
Varietal: 76% Cabernet Sauvignon 24% Merlot
Vintage: 2024 Colour: Red Style: Dry
Producer: Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste
ABV: 13.5%
Today sees the relase of Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste 2025.
A black silkscreen bottle for a landmark vintage !
Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2025 marks the opening of the estate's brand-new gravity-flow winery : a project a decade in the making, finally commissioned for this harvest. To celebrate, the Borie family dressed it in a striking all-black silkscreen bottle.
“Excellent GPL, medium- to full-bodied with a great expression of dark fruit that is evenly distributed. It’s fresh and precise with grainy, integrated tannins that should only integrate more. A blend of 76% cabernet sauvignon and 24% merlot. “
James Suckling 96-97/100
“This textbook Pauillac opens with aromas of cassis, flowers, blackberries, tobacco, and a lead pencil. The palate is lifted, powerful, juicy, and chewy. The wine is long, fresh, and creamy, and, most importantly, packed with round fruit and tobacco leaves that linger. This is a modern, classically styled vintage. The wine is a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon with 24% Merlot, 13.2% ABV. Picking took place September 4 - September 18. Yields were 30 hectoliters, per
hectare. Drink from 2028 - 2060.”
Jeff Leve 96/100
“Vibrant, in the spirit of the 2025 vintage, cloves, capsicum, blueberry and cassis fruits, plenty of delicious texture, lovely sappy and bright juice, firm tannins, appellation typicity, crayon and mint leaf. First year for the new cellar. 65% new oak for ageing”
Jane Anson 94/100
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Chateau Potesac Medoc 2025 En Primeur 12 Btl. Case
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Country: France Region: Bordeaux Medoc
Varietal: 37% Cabernet Sauvignon 41% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc
Vintage: 2025 Colour: Red Style: Dry
Producer: Chateau Potensac
ABV: 13.0%
“This estate is always reliable, but I was taken aback by just how good the 2025 Potensacis. A blend of 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc and the rest Merlot, from vines averaging over 60 years of age, it offers up aromas of dark berries, crème de cassis and iris, followed by a medium- to full-bodied, layered and concentrated palate with excellent density, high-quality tannins and a long, perfumed finish. The 2025 may well be the best wine ever
produced at this estate.”
William Keeley 91-93/100
“Another in a string of top vintages for Potensac, the core of the wine is marked by its display of black currants, flowers, tobacco, and underbrush. Energetic, crisp, and dark, the wine leaves you with a chewy, savory-edged finish. 13.5% ABV. Drink from 2030-2050”
Jeff Leve 93/100
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Chateau Nenin Pomerol 2025 En Primeur 6 Btl. Case
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Country: France Region: Bordeaux
Varietal: 67% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 3% Cabernet Franc
Vintage: 2025 Colour: Red Style: Dry
Producer: Chateau Nenin
ABV: 13.5%
“Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate edge brightening. Black berry fruit, dark cherries, some nougat and herbal spice, underlaid with candied orange zest. Juicy, elegant, fresh heart cherries, extract-sweet core, fine, silky tannins, freshly structured, a delicate food companion, sure maturity potential.”
Falstaff 96/100
“Flowers, mint, tobacco, licorice and plums fill the perfume. The palate is vibrant, almost, crisp, and juicy, with a round, creamy, black cherry, chocolate, plum,, licorice, and mint dominated finish. 13.4% ABV. Drink from 2029-2050.
Jeff Leve 93/100
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Chateau Lynch Bages Pauillac 2025 En Primeur 3 Btl. Case
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Country: France Region: Bordeaux
Varietal: 66% cabernet sauvignon, 28% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 3% petit verdot
Vintage: 2025 Colour: Red Style: Dry
Producer: Chateau Lynch Bages
ABV: 13.5%
“Lots of great energy, with a precision and focus that sends you down the road to gorgeous dark fruits and mineral nuances. A cool, minty note. Medium- to full-bodied. Racy and intense, with a lightness at the end. Juicy fruit, too. A blend of 66% cabernet sauvignon, 28% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 3% petit verdot.”
James Suckling 97-98/100
“The perfume kicks off with creme de cassis, blackberries, flowers, peppery herbs, cigar wrappers, and tobacco, and mint leaves. The palate delivers its message with creamy-textures, and racy tannins. The wealth of fruit you taste, and feel wraps everything up perfectly with its ocean of of chewy currants, sweetness, lift, length, and complexity filling your palate with its weight and density. It is also seemingly weightless, and deceptively easy to drink. ”
Jeff Leve 97/100
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Chateau Langoa Barton Saint Julien 2025 En Primeur 6 Btl. Case
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Country: France Region: Bordeaux SaintJulien
Varietal: 45% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc
Vintage: 2025 Colour: Red Style: Dry
Producer: Chateau Leoville Barton
ABV: 13.0%
Cropped at a mere 20 hectoliters per hectare, one of the lowest yields ever recorded at this address, the 2025 Langoa Barton offers up aromas of dark berries, pencil shavings, spices and new oak. Medium- to full-bodied, with bright acids and chalky tannins, it's a blend of 45% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc.
92/94
William Kelley, Wine Advocate, April 2026
The 2025 Langoa-Barton was picked
between September 4 and 18 and matured in 60% new oak barrels. It has a lively bouquet with the Merlot in full effect, blueberry and cassis scents, and just a background touch of peppermint. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, a lovely caressing texture, very well balanced with a touch of pepperiness towards the persistent finish. What a gorgeous Langoa! 2030 - 2055
92/94
Neal Martin, vinous.com, May 2026
Focused, with volume and drive, it
shows aromas of berries, warm spices and some leather. Medium- to full-bodied with fine, firm tannins. Structured and compact, with bright fruit at its core. Long, focused finish.
94/95
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2026
Langoa is very much a wine of the moment, with a sense of energy and punch, and you get that here, juicy and characterful, raspberry and cherry pit, hard to beat in terms of pleasure delivery. Great stuff. Very drinkable
wine. Tasted twice, love the energy here. 2034-2044.
93
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, April 2026
The 2025 Langoa-Barton is a very racy wine. Plush contours and vibrant dark red/purplish fruit are the signatures. Crushed flowers, cinnamon, red plum, blood orange and dried herbs open nicely in the glass. Floral overtones brighten the finish. This mid-weight, fruity, Merlot-driven Saint-Julien is all charm. It should drink well with minimal cellaring.
Tasted two times. 2033 - 2050
91/93
Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, April 2026
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Chateau Leoville Barton Saint Julien 2025 En Primeur 3 Btl. Case
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Country: France Region: Bordeaux Medoc
Varietal: 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc
Vintage: 2025 Colour: Red Style: Dry
Producer: Chateau Leoville Barton
ABV: 13.0%
Another wine that will appeal to purists, the 2025 Léoville Barton offers up notes of crème de cassis, violets, pencils shavings and new oak, followed by a medium- to full-bodied, taut and penetrating palate that's racy and youthfully structured, with a concentrated mid-palate that reflects the very low yields (22 hectoliters per hectare) this year. It's a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, harvested between September 4 and
18.
93/95
William Kelley, Wine Advocate, April 2026
The 2025 Léoville Barton was picked between 4 September and 18 September and matured in 60% new oak barrels. This has an exquisite bouquet already, with ebullient blackberry and bilberry scents, beautifully integrated oak, keeping the DNA of Léoville Barton despite the warm summer. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, gentle grip, very pure fruit and a "cool" and focused finish.
With lower alcohol, between 13.0 and 13.5%, the terroir really shows through here. Superb. 2034 - 2055
95/97
Neal Martin, vinous.com, May 2026
Dark ripe fruit and a touch of licorice on the nose. Medium- to full-bodied with a firm tannic structure on the palate, showing dark fruit, chocolate and walnut flavors.
95/96
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2026
Beautiful vintage at Léoville Barton,
delivers layer upon layer of crayon, graphite, textural interest and character, we are on another level of St Julien and right at the top of the vintage. Black chocolate and espresso coupled with finesse and fragrance that takes you into the heart of St Julien. A flood of flavour, what a brilliantly judged wine, powerful with air in all the right places. Just a breath below the brilliant 2023 for me. 2034-2044.
97
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, April 2026
The 2025 Léoville Barton is one of my early favorites of the vintage. It carries all the textural intensity and richness of a vintage with paltry yields. As such, it is not an especially classic Léoville Barton, but it is undeniably gorgeous. Black fruit, gravel, chocolate, new leather and licorice add to an impression of gravitas. As always, there's a healthy amount of press wine in the blend. Readers will have to be patient with the 2025, but there's a lot of potential. Tasted two
times. 2035 - 2065
94/96
Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, April 2026
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Echo Lynch Bages Pauillac 2025 En Primeur 6 Btl. Case
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Country: France Region: Bordeaux
Varietal: 53% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2025 Colour: Red Style: Dry
Producer: Chateau Lynch Bages
ABV: 13.5%
Located in the Bordeaux region, Château Lynch-Bages is a flagship estate of the Pauillac appellation. While the first vineyard plots date back to the 17th century, the estate truly took shape in its current identity in the 18th century with the arrival of the Lynch family. Classified as a Fifth Growth in 1855, the property was acquired in 1939 by Jean-Charles Cazes. Today, Jean-Michel Cazes oversees this historic vineyard. The family has successfully developed this
prestigious name by combining viticultural excellence with a modern and authentic wine tourism offering. The vineyard The exceptional terroir of this wine extends over 105 hectares in the heart of the Pauillac appellation. The vines thrive on deep Garonne gravel mounds, a particularly well-draining soil that stores daytime heat and releases it at night. This privileged location, overlooking the Gironde estuary, provides an ideal microclimate that promotes optimal grape ripening.
“Deep and rich in colour. Structured, toasted spice, dark chocolate, espresso, graphite, mint leaf. Great stuff, easy to recommend, one to look out for. 3.60 pH. 20% new oak. Harvest September 9 to 21. A far clearer link with the main Lynch Bages estate than many 2nd wines in the vintage, and one of the ‘sibling’ wines of the vintage. Nicolas Labenne technical director.”
Jane Anson 94/100
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