The French have a saying, “tout ce qui est petit est mignon”. And Mouton Rothschild’s Petit Mouton is very, very mignon indeed.

Petit Mouton is the second wine of the famous Grand Cru Classé Château Mouton Rothschild (there is a third, Baron Nathaniel). Mouton Rothschild itself should need no introduction: it is the only wine to have changed status and be promoted to the premier league of first growths. Classed as a respectable second in the 1855 classification, Mouton Rosthchild decided that it deserved better and, rather like a petulant child, began a 50-year long campaign to change its status. So, happy was the day in 1973 that first growth was granted. To celebrate, the chateau immediately changed its motto from Premier ne puis, second ne daigne, Mouton suis. ("First, I cannot be. Second, I do not deign to be. Mouton I am.") to Premier je suis, Second je fus, Mouton ne change. ("First, I am. Second, I used to be. Mouton does not change").

Enter then Le Petit Mouton. Created in 1993, the first vintage was (un)imaginatively called Le Second Vin de Mouton Rothschild. This was quickly changed the following year to Le Petit Mouton, named after Baroness Philippine’s home on the heart of the estate. Regardless of what the label says on the outside, the proof is in the bottle with Le Petit Mouton. Created from the youngest vines of the illustrious Premier Cru, Le Petit Mouton provides exceptional value (both from an investment and a drinking point of view) for a wine of this calibre. To put it another way, Le Petit Mouton gives a lot of bang for your buck.

Le Petit Mouton benefits not only from the same savoir faire as its older brother, but also from the same scrupulous attention to detail during vinification. Fermented in the same Mouton oak barrels as the Premier Cru, Le Petit Mouton is both noble and worthy of its name, and delivers an incredibly distinctive personality for a second wine. It retains the elegance and richness of a great Pauillac, but is just that touch more sexy. It’s the Pippa Middleton to Kate, the Liam Gallagher to Noel or Prince Harry to William.

Ageing potential is high, averaging a good 20+ years. However, don’t get too excited - this rarely-seen second wine is normally sold to previous buyers only. It scores consistently high on all accounts: at tasting (2015 and 2016s offerings scored 93/100 by Wine Advocate, 2014 came in one point lower at 92/100), on search engines and on Liv-Ex. Le Petit Mouton is among the highest-priced wines from Pauillac, with a price tag that has been rising over the past two years (2018-2020) and looks set to continue to do so.