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Our Margaux wines |
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| Wine | Vintage | Case size | Price/case | Cases | ||
| Margaux | 1995 | 12×75cl | £3,900 | 1 | 95 |   |
| Medium garnet colour going brick at the rim. The nose is beginning to showing signs of evolution with aromas of leather, game, warm cassis, dried plums and cloves. Medium to high acidity, medium body and medium to firm, fine tannins support earthy, blackcurrant-preserve fruit. Long finish. Drink now – 2030+. Tasted February 2009. | ||||||
| Margaux | 1996 | 6×75cl | £2,550 | 1 | 99 | |
| The 1996 Chateau Margaux, which was bottled in September, 1998, is undoubtedly one of the great classics produced under the Mentzelopoulos regime. In many respects, it is the quintessential Chateau Margaux, as well as the paradigm for this estate, combining measured power, extraordinary elegance, and admirable complexity. I tasted the wine on three separate occasions in January, and in short, it’s a beauty! The color is opaque purple. The wine offers extraordinarily pure notes of blackberries, cassis, pain grille, and flowers, gorgeous sweetness, a seamless personality, and full body, with nothing out of place. The final blend (85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc) contains a high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. It tastes complete and long, although backward. My instincts suggest this wine will shut down, but at present it is open-knit, tasting like a recently bottled wine. The fruit is exceptionally sweet and pure, and there are layers of flavor in the mouth. I do believe this wine will develop an extraordinary perfume, and possess a high level of richness. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2040. | ||||||
| Margaux | 2000 | 12×75cl | £7,500 | 1 | 100 | |
| Absolutely compelling in two tastings of this vintage, the 2000 Margaux is composed of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot. The extraordinary seductiveness, complex aromatics, and purity it exhibits lead me to believe it has reached its window of full maturity. Medium-bodied, with layers of concentration, stunning blue, red, and black fruits intermixed with spring flowers, a subtle dosage of new oak, and a distinctive personality that is elegant while at the same time powerful and substantial, this is a multi-dimensional wine that was extremely approachable and drinkable in both tastings I had of it. The color remains a healthy, even opaque bluish/purple, but there is no reason to hesitate to drink it. It should evolve for another 30-40 years, so there is no hurry either. | ||||||
| Margaux | 2001 | 12×75cl | £3,200 | 1 | 93 | |
| Performing well from bottle, Chateau Margaux’s 2001, which is somewhat reminiscent of both the 1985 and 1999, is an elegant, seamlessly constructed effort with a deep ruby/purple color, and a beautiful nose of flowers, creme de cassis, blackberries, and cedar. A blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot, and 4% Cabernet Franc, this forward, opulent beauty can be drunk now or cellared for 15-20 years. This is one of the most elegant wines of the vintage. | ||||||
| Margaux | 2002 | 12×75cl | £3,200 | 4 | 93 | |
| Performing better from bottle than at any time in cask (which of course is the objective of great winemaking, isn’t it?), this wine reveals a dense ruby/purple color in a style somewhat reminiscent of the 1988 but with more power, concentration, and volume. It has a beautifully elegant nose of black fruits intermixed with truffle, flower, and oak. The wine is medium to full-bodied, dense, with wonderful precision, freshness, and a long, full-bodied finish with impressive levels of concentration. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2030. | ||||||
| Margaux | 2003 | 12×75cl | £5,000 | 3 | 99 | |
| Am I being too stingy with the 2003 Chateau Margaux? A wine of extraordinary complexity and intensity, it reveals a deep purple color, a style not unlike the 1990 Margaux (possibly even more concentrated), a velvety texture, and notes of spring flowers interwoven with camphor, melted licorice, creme de cassis, and pain grille. Not a blockbuster, it offers extraordinary intensity as well as a surreal delicacy/lightness. There is riveting freshness to this offering, which tips the scales at a lofty (for this estate) 13.5% alcohol, as well as an alluring sweetness and accessibility. It probably will tighten up over the next few years. Nevertheless, it is a profound Chateau Margaux that brings to mind a hypothetical blend of the 1982 and 1990. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2035. | ||||||
| Margaux | 2004 | 12×75cl | £3,000 | 1 | 93 | |
| The supple-textured 2004 Chateau Margaux is reminiscent of the 2001 or 1999. It exhibits a superb blue/purple color to the rim as well as sweet aromas of flowers, blueberries, creme de cassis, licorice, and smoke, superb fruit intensity, medium body, classic elegance, and silky, sweet tannin in the long finish. This beauty can be drunk now or cellared for two decades or more. | ||||||
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Château Margaux
A 1er Cru Classe from the 1855 Classification of the Medoc, whose famously grandiose chateau was constructed in 1804 and is today considered perhaps the most remarkable and imposing of all the Medoc chateaux. Chateau Margaux is located in the commune of the same name, which on occasion could lead to some confusion, as both it and generic wine are known commonly as Margaux, nonetheless, the average cost of the former will likely provide sufficient indication.
Viticulture has been an activity here since C16th and the current vineyard composition began to take shape at the beginning of C19th. The chateau changed has seen periods under English ownership following its capture during the Anglo-French wars (C18th) – during which time it was one of the four New French Clarets sold at the emerging London coffee houses – and was nationalised during the French Revolution. Meanwhile, Thomas Jefferson, in his famous trip of 1787 singled Margaux out as one of the ‘four vineyards of first quality’.
In the C19th and C20th Chateau Margaux changed hands variously between differing French proprietors and amid hard-pressed times of the 1970’s energy crisis in the West, the French government intervened to prevent its sale to National Distillers, an American conglomerate. In 1977, it was bought by André Mentzelopoulos, a self-made man of Greek origin who had built a retail and finance empire.
A chequered period of ownership during the C19th and C20th meant that, at times, Margaux lacked consistency. However, the Mentzelopoulos family at once instigated a wide-ranging programme of investment, in the vineyard, chai and chateau and commissioned highly-regarded oenologist, Émile Peynaud to oversee it. In December 1980, André Mentzelopoulos died suddenly, leaving the chateau under the direction of his wife Laura and daughter Corinne. The major concern was continuity in quality which took another leap in 1983 when the two were joined by talented winemaker, Paul Pontelier, who took over as the estate’s young new director. Paul Pontelier remains at the helm almost 30 years later and under his stewardship Margaux has built an enviable reputation for its consistency and is frequently touted as the wine of the vintage. Pontelier has placed much emphasis on the Cabernet Sauvignon grape, considering it to be the major agent of class in Margaux wines and as such has steadily increased proportion of it in the Grand Vin; indeed the exceptional 2010 vintage saw its highest proportion yet.
Vineyard & production
Margaux has 82ha./203 acres of vines planted to 75% per cent Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, 20 per cent Merlot, and 5 per cent of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Notably of late, a higher proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon goes into the Grand Vin than its distribution in the vineyard. Approximately 30, 000 cases are produced each year divided between the eponymous Grand Vin, just over 40%, Pavillion Rouge, the chateau’s newly invigorated second wine and, unusually for the Marguax commune, 3, 000 cases or so of a white wine, Pavillon Blanc, made from 12ha. of Sauvignon Blanc and that has itself become overly more ambitious and appealing.
Fermentation takes place in oak vats for all wines and ageing is in 100% new barrels, with the Grand Vin seeing 22 months.
Margaux is all about breed, weight and depth, with the true class of its terroir coming forth in the remarkable consistency, which has become its hallmark. Recent vintages, perhaps above all, have created wines that are particularly perfumed, elegant and richly fruited with exceptional length.
Top-rated vintages
| Vintage
| RP
| JR
| Market price £
| £/Parker Points
|
| 2009
| 98-100
| 19+
| 8900
| 90
|
| 2008
| 95-97
| 16.5
| 5500
| 57
|
| 2005
| 98+
| 19
| 7800
| 79
|
| 2003
| 99
| 18
| 5800
| 322
|
| 2000
| 100
| 18.5+
| 9400
| 507
|
| 1996
| 99
| 17.5
| 6500
| 371
|
| 1995
| 95
| 17.5
| 4695
| 268
|
| 1990
| 100
| 18
| 9200
| 511
|
| 1983
| 96
| 18.5
| 5120
| 277
|
| 1982
| 98
| 18
| 8750
| 486
|
prices as per May 2011.
Margaux continues to hold its own, with robust demand from a new wine public in non-traditional markets., whereas overall, it has at times appeared undervalued vs v its First Growth peers. Meanwhile, the increasing old Cabernet Sauvignon vines, which appear to resist high alcohol levels, are forming an ever-higher percentage of the Grand Vin in seeming confirmation of the chateau’s reputation for consistent elegance. Margaux, is for all reasons, a chateaux to continue to watch.
| 2010
| Total score
| 2009
| Move
|
| 4
| 52
| 8
| +4
|
Liv-ex Power 100 is a list of the top performers over the previous year and their position starting the current year. The indice traces the movement of chateau and other wines using a sophisticated weighting system based on average prices, production, notional availability and Parker Points.
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Release price evolution
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| Vintage
| Ex-negociant €
| London release price £
|
| 2009
| 550
| 8000
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| 2008
| | 1590
|
| 2007
| 240
| 2450
|
| 2006
| 325
| 2950
|
| 2005
| 410
| 4500
|
Chateau Margaux at a glance
