This shows lots of mulled spice, warm tobacco leaf and well-roasted cedar accents, but isn't short on fruit, offering enticing layers of red currant, plum and blackberry confiture. The long finish is riddled with sweet smoke, black tea and iron notes. A gorgeous wine from an overlooked vintage.--Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical (March 2017). Best from 2020 through 2035. 23,000 cases made. — JM

I drank this 2004 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild the other night at home with some wine producers. I decanted it only right before serving - a mistake made while concentrating on the cooking food. On the nose there were coffee and chocolate aromas with hints of vanilla. It was super fruity, and its medium body was coupled with beautifully soft tannins. This is just coming around now and it's very New World in style. Overall, a much overlooked vintage from Mouton.

Supple and grand, Mouton has a heavenly richness in 2004. The flavors are saturated with blackberry and black-cherry fruit, bright on the aroma, quieter and softer in the end. The wine has a laconic beauty, closed off behind its oak and stony tannin. With several days of air, the succulence of the fruit grows more prominent as it will with 15 to 20 years of age.

An extremely distinctive wine – almost mid Atlantic rather than Pauillac and therefore of course very winning. Very dark purple. Hidden, deep-flavoured nose. Some rather sweet notes – even ripe Merlot notes which dominate at the moment. Very smooth and flattering in texture with real polish – very supple tannins with lots of fruit on the front palate. Not nearly as dry as one would expect of a first growth Pauillac – almost a hint of Opus One in texture? No hint of oak. Very interesting and not at all severe. 18/20

Cedar chest, forest floor, cigar box, mocha, wet earth and fennel open the wine. On the palate, the wine delivers blackberry, spice and plum notes with freshness in the finish. Full bodied and less developed than many wines from the year, this youthful wine will improve with another 3-5 years in the bottle. This marks the debut vintage for Philippe Dhalluin at Mouton. The wine was made from a blend of 73% Cabernet . Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The harvest took place from September 29 to October 15. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2004+Mouton

Last tasted three or four years ago, the 2004 Mouton-Rothschild is a satisfactory wine, even if in my opinion it pales again subsequent success in so-called "challenging" vintages such as 2006 or 2008. It came across tight and broody on the nose, a hint of seaweed tincturing the black fruit, later on a whiff of smoke. It does not feel as refined as either the 2004 Lafite-Rothschild or the 2004 Latour. The palate is medium-bodied and shows more class than the aromatics: cohesive and with just the right amount of grip, a little chewy perhaps but with a pleasant saline sensation towards the "correct" finish. It ticks all the boxes but does not go that extra mile. Tasted September 2016. - Neal Martin