Mouton Cadet is the brand name of a popular range of modestly priced, generic Bordeaux wines, considered Bordeaux's most successful brand. Created by Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Mouton Cadet wine is produced through the assembly of a variety of grapes, from several Bordeaux region appellations.
History
After the acclaimed vintages of 1928 and 1929, the vintage of 1930 and the following two harvests were dire, and the wine that Baron Philippe de Rothschild felt was not worthy of the Chateau Mouton-Rothschild name was this time named Mouton Cadet. "Cadet" refers to Philippe de Rothschild place as cadet, the youngest son of the family. Despite its lack of traditional prestige, the wine proved successful, and in order to repeat the success the following year, de Rothschild had to turn to neighbouring vineyards for sourced fruit. Initially labeled with the appellation of Pauillac, the increasing demand caused the sourcing of grapes to expand to nearby appellations Saint-Estèphe and Haut-Médoc. Over the following years, the wine came to include grapes from an even greater area, until production stopped with World War II. The wine was reborn after the war, and gained a Bordeaux AOC classification in 1947, steadily increasing in popularity due to a reputation of consistent quality. In later years the wine relies heavily on grapes sourced from the Entre-Deux-Mers district. Mouton Cadet was marketed significantly throughout the 1950s and '60s, placing the brand in the United Kingdom and United States. In the 1970s, a white wine was added to the label, expanding the brand's concept, which resulted in 1975 sales of more than three million bottles worldwide. Philippe de Rothschild died in 1988 and control of the business passed on to his daughter Philippine de Rothschild. The label Réserve Mouton Cadet Médoc was created in 1996, offering a red wine with greater ageing potential and suitability for the restaurant trade. In 1999 the Réserve line also included the white Réserve Mouton Cadet Graves.
2000s
One of the best selling wines in the world in 2002, Mouton Cadet sold 15 million bottles worldwide. In 2004, its U.S. sales were hit by changing tastes and anti-French sentiment, and consequently it sold only 2.9 million bottles in the U.S. in all of 2004, down from a high of 6.5 million bottles in 1992. A reblending of the wine and redesign of the brand was undertaken in 2004. In September 2005 Mouton Cadet began a distribution agreement with the North Lake Wines subsidiary of U.S-based Constellation Brands, the world's largest wine distributor. In 2007, Mouton Cadet made further additions to the franchise, including a rosé in the generic series, and included a further three wines to the Réserve range: Réserve Mouton Cadet Saint-Émilion, Réserve Mouton Cadet Sauternes, and a red Réserve Mouton Cadet Graves.
