No, not really. Only the buildings (Chateaux) are close together, the vineyards are on quite different terroir.
Mouton has its vineyards almost in one block right behind (west of) the chateau, Pontet-Canet touches it (and a parcel of Lafite) to the South, and all are on (kind of a) a hill of gravel, while D´Armailhac has the vineyards on much deeper soil (and lower terroir) to the East, touching Mouton only at one point … with much more Merlot planted (around 30%) … almost impossible to produce 1st class wine on this terroir …
Their respective websites appear to contradict you as I see more similarities in their respective terroir and on the merlot contents between PC and D’Armailhac.
Vineyard terroir:
Mouton - “… gravelly soil extends down several meters over a clay-limestone base.”
D’Armailhac - “… made up of light and very deep gravelly soil … rests on clay-limestone base.”
PC - “… Garonne gravel over a bedrock of limestone.”
Both vineyards are really quite different in their planting’s and terrors.
Use the contents bar on each page and read the paragraphs on their vineyards to see how they vary. There is a reason the wines are so diverse in character.
As you will read, the majority of Mouton is one large block of vines with very elevated slopes, and gravel that travels 5 meters deep. That is not the case with d’Armailhac, which mostly consists of 2 blocks, one adjacent to Mouton and parts that reach Pontet Canet.
I have had a number of 1996 Pontet Canet and have yet to try one that was fading in the least. The last time we had the 03 and the 96 together the group preferred the 96.
I think they started getting better the year before. I’ve been drinking the 94 since release – just had one a few months ago – and its still going strong.
For my tastes, 94/95/96 are all very good, classic and not spoofy.
The older ones from the 80’s I don’t care for that much.
There is an old joke about this in which Baron Philippe de Rothschild is served a D’Armailhac in a restaurant which the sommelier tries to pass off as a Mouton. The Baron recognizes the switch after just a sniff and raises a stink. The sommelier, who doesn’t recognize the Baron, claims that they are so close the terroir is really the same, and says that the diner couldn’t possibly tell the difference with just a sniff. The Baron reveals his identity and makes a filthy retort involving the sommelier and his wife, and the difference in terroir that just an inch or two can make.
I think it was improving before 1994 but the string of poor vintages resulted in people seeing 1994 or 1995 as the starting point. I had the 1993 in Paris in 1998 and it was quite good, but I’ve never seen a bottle of 1991-1993 PC in the USA.
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