In the mid-1920s, there had been a few bad vintages in Bordeaux and Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) made a virtue of necessity. He created a simple wine in 1927, which he called "Carruades de Mouton", but it was a flop. In 1930, a second attempt was made with the successor "Mouton Cadet". The name part "Cadet" means "junior" or "youngest" and was named after Philippe, the youngest scion of the family. The name had a double meaning, as the Baron also wanted to express the simpler quality.
Along with several other brands such as Baron Philippe Collection, Heritage Range and Mise de La Baronnie, it belongs to the second product line after the famous Château Mouton-Rothschild, the "Branded Wines". The brand developed into the Bordeaux bestseller par excellence; from three million bottles in 1975, production has risen to 13 million bottles a year worldwide today. This means that every 2.5 seconds, a bottle of the Mouton Cadet brand is opened worldwide. The other branded wines account for nine million. Like all brand wines, the wine is produced and distributed by the Rothschild company "La Baronnie". For this, "everything", so to speak, of wines is used that are not sufficient in quality for the Grand Vins, as well as other wines from the most diverse Bordeaux areas.
The simple Mouton Cadet Rouge, Blanc and Rosé are marketed under the Bordeaux appellation, using all the grape varieties permitted there. The cleanly made wines are more intended for early consumption. There is also a higher quality level Réserve. The Rouge used to be made from Cabernet Franc 55%, Cabernet Sauvignon 30% and Merlot 15% under Médoc, the Blanc from Sémillon under Graves. For almost 75 years, nothing changed in this composition, but with the 2004 vintage, a new recipe was introduced.
The Rouge now consists of Merlot (65%), Cabernet Sauvignon (20%) and Cabernet Franc (15%), the Blanc of Sémillon (50%), Sauvignon Bl anc (40%) and Muscadelle (10%). Under no circumstances should the Mouton Cadet line be confused with the second wine "Le Petit Mouton Château Mouton-Rothschild", which is at least one class above. There is also a cigar brand "Zino Mouton Cadet" (from Honduras) with a burgundy-coloured belly band, which was created by the entrepreneur Zino Davidoff (1906-1994) himself especially for Baroness Philippine de Rothschild (1935-2014) in the mid-1980s.
