🍷 Aile d'Argent

Aile d'Argent is a line of Château Mouton Rothschild (white AOC Bordeaux wine); years on this site: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007.

According to the house, it is the white wine of Château Mouton Rothschild: in the early 1980s Philippine de Rothschild had part of the vineyard planted with white varieties; the sandy, gravelly plots carry Sauvignon Blanc (53 %), Sémillon (35 %), Sauvignon Gris (11 %) and Muscadelle (1 %) at 9,000 vines per hectare, and half of the wine matures in new oak barrels; the name («Silver Wing») comes from a fairy tale Baron Philippe de Rothschild made up for his daughter and published in 1947 as «Aile d’Argent la Magique».

Château Mouton Rothschild is a Pauillac estate in the Médoc, owned by the Rothschild family since 1853; known for labels illustrated by artists since 1945, a first growth since 1973.

Bordeaux is a controlled designation of origin (AOC; in EU terms a PDO) covering almost the whole Gironde department: 494 of its 535 communes, which makes it the largest AOC wine territory in France. A departmental delimitation came with the decree of 18 February 1911, and the AOC was recognised by the decree of 14 November 1936. It covers still white, rosé and red wines, with the term «clairet» for dark rosé and «claret» for light red. White Bordeaux is made from four main varieties — Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle — with Colombard, Merlot Blanc and Ugni Blanc allowed as accessory varieties, together no more than 30 % of the blend. Vines are planted at no fewer than 4,000 per hectare (3,300 with wider rows), and the yield for white wines is 67 hl/ha (ceiling 77 hl/ha).

Under the AOC Bordeaux rules, a dry white wine contains no more than 3 g of fermentable sugars per litre (up to 5 g if the acidity is high enough); whites with 5 to 60 g/l of sugars are a separate type of the same appellation. White grapes do not count as ripe below 170 g of sugar per litre of must for Sauvignon and Sauvignon Gris and 162 g for the other varieties; the natural strength must reach at least 10 %, and after enrichment a dry white may not exceed 13 %. Unlike red Bordeaux, which reaches consumers no earlier than 15 January after the harvest, white wines go on sale under the general French rules. The appellation is a rule of origin and production, not a verdict on taste.

Under EU rules, a wine label must show the designation of origin, the actual alcoholic strength, allergens such as sulphites, and the name of the bottler. A harvest year on the label means the wine is made from grapes of that year.

Why it matters to you. The appellation on the label tells you where the grapes come from and under which rules the wine was made; in Bordeaux the blend and the harvest dates change every year, so different years of the same château are different wines. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol. The year on the label is the harvest year.