Margaux

2019: The Grand Vin of Château Margaux 2019 is an excellent vintage and one of the precious wines we have been lucky enough to produce this decade, in 2015, 2016, 2018 and now 2019. Cabernet Sauvignon still forms the heart of the Château Margaux, accounting for 90% of the assemblage. Merlot accounts for 7%. In addition to our emblematic parcels, this year we have added the Merlots from the Haut du Jardin parcel which bring body and charm to the wine as a whole. The Cabernet Franc (2%) and the Petit Verdot (1%) complete the assemblage. Château Margaux represents 37% of the harvest.

Wine Advocate 98: When I used to drink this wine as a student, it generally left me a bit cold, but several recent bottles of the 1996 Château Margaux lead me to think that I must have had bad luck with a poorly stored batch of bottles. Along with Haut-Brion, Margaux is the most forward of the 1996 first growths, offering up an expressive bouquet of creamy cassis fruit mingled with cigar wrapper, sweet spices, espresso roast and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, suave and fleshy, with melting tannins and a long, expansive finish, it's in a beautiful place today.

Vinous 98: The 1996 Château Margaux stands as one of the pinnacles during Paul Pontallier's illustrious tenure. I remember it dazzling out of barrel, perhaps my first memory of tasting wine at that prenatal stage. It has retained the fabulous tension and freshness on the nose, every atom infused with mineralité, subtle pressed flower/violet scents unfurling with aeration. The palate has unerring symmetry, perfectly balanced with filigree tannin and lovely acidity. It's a wine where everything seems to be in its right place. Blackberry, crushed stone at the front of the mouth and a touch of spice toward the finish show supreme control. This is a Margaux that seems to light up the senses. It was outstanding in its youth...something that has not changed one bit over the intervening two decades. This may well turn out to be the Left Bank pinnacle of the 1990s.

Decanter 100: Softly spoken, fine tannins, pencil lead and leather, with truffle, earth, campfire and spice. Long drawn out finish, achingly slow, crushed stone, tobacco and dried roses. As with the 2001, the generosity and beauty of the aromatics tells you that this is absolutely ready to drink - although in many ways it feels like it will last longer than the 2001, as the tannins are still holding everything in place. This got the audience award on the night, and no question it is a stunning wine that is still giving so much pleasure at 25 years old. The 1996 has really grown into itself - it was a late harvest at the time after a burst of rain at the end of September that they decided to wait through before picking, and were rewarded with beautifully ripe Cabernet that was high in dense tannins and a little surly at first, but that has turned into one of the greatest vintages of the 1990s (rivaled only by the 1990 itself in my opinion). 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend, 100% new oak.

Wine Advocate 94: The 1999 Château Margaux is an immensely charming wine that's drinking beautifully today from both bottle and, in this case, magnum. Bursting with aromas of blackcurrants, blackberries and violets framed by subtle hints of cigar box, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and sensual, with an enveloping core of fruit, ripe and melting tannins and a long, penetrating finish.

Vinous 94: The 1999 Chateau Margaux is another overlooked vintage that transcends the growing season. This example, which is from an ex-château magnum, is delightful. It offers a slightly more fruit-driven, heartier bouquet than you would presuppose from a supposed mediocre season. Black fruit is laced with graphite and clove and blossoms with aeration while maintaining superb delineation. The palate is still youthful with seamlessly integrated oak, fine tannins and gorgeous black fruit tinged with tobacco and smoke. This First Growth has an effortless and unexpectedly sumptuous quality, and it will continue to drink well for another 20 or 25 years.

Wine Advcocate 96: This may be from the exceptional vintage of 2003, but Château Margaux remains true to form. First and foremost, it is a refined, elegant wine, with complex layers of flavors. But, yes, the hot summer is there the dense, dry tannins, but somehow they seem to float through the wine rather than sitting heavily in the middle. Acidity and freshness come to finish, giving the wine a delicious lift.

James Suckling 97: A wine with spices, meat, and very ripe fruit on the nose, with hints of dried flowers. Full bodied, and deeply layered, with loads of fruit and spices. Long and decadent, very complex. Pull the cork after 2013.

Wine Advocate 92: Tasted at BI Wine & Spirits' 10-Years-On tasting, the 2007 Chateau Margaux was just missing a little intensity on the nose compared to the other First Growths: scents of incense and iris, blackberry and tobacco, perhaps just missing the floral nature of other vintages. The palate is well balanced with supple black fruit laced with graphite and tobacco, fully matured but clearly with sufficient substance to last another 15-20 years. It is a capable Château Margaux, although frankly it does not put enough distance between itself and its Margaux peers, yapping at its heels. Tasted February 2017.

Decanter 95: All of the Left Bank firsts are tasting excellent, but Margaux stands out for the tightness and clarity of its sweet cherry and cassis fruit expression, the menthol grip on the finish, and the perfume that runs through the palate. This is a vintage that could almost be ready to drink with a good carafing, but the layers of graphite and the finesse to the tannins suggest it could also go longer. A great example of the subtle crafting possible in 2007.

Wine Enthusiast 93: Silky wine, fresh and light, balanced with high acidity cutting through black berry fruits. The structure has some substance, but this is a light, aromatic wine, developing fast, already delicious, and only for medium-term aging.

Wine Advocate 94: This is a stunning Chateau Margaux, made in a sexy, up-front, elegant style, with deep creme de cassis fruit intermixed with spring flowers, a solid inner core of richness and depth, but again, very sweet tannins as well as striking minerality and elegance. One of the most seductive Chateau Margauxs given its recent bottling, this blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and the rest tiny quantities of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot should drink beautifully for the next 25-30 years. Remarkably, a mere 36% of the entire production was selected for the 2008 Chateau Margaux.

James Suckling 94: This is so subtle and refined on the nose with amazing perfumes of rose petal, blueberries and blackberries. Full but very tight and fresh with a lovely length that goes on and on. Starts off slowly with a solid core of fruit,  then grows denser and denser. This is shy at first, needs at least five years of bottle age.

Vinous 94: The 2008 Château Margaux has an attractive bouquet of mulberry, red plum, briary, a hint of rose petal rather than its signature note of violets. It gains intensity with aeration, but to my surprise it feels quite forward for a 10-year old First Growth. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, quite Pauillac in style thanks to that graphite seam that surfaces towards the finish. It is a precise, classic Château Margaux that really delivers its intensity in the final quarter. I came away with the impression that it just does not quite slip from fourth to fifth gear.

Wine Advocate 96: Tasted blind at the 2012 Southwold tasting, the 2012 Château Margaux has a taut, linear, pencil lead-infused bouquet with pure blackberry and boysenberry scents, an undercurrent of tobacco that surfaces after five minutes in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, a life-affirming sense of balance with well-integrated new oak towards the finish. I concur with Robert Parker that his has become more structured and masculine in bottle, yet there is pedigree here from start to finish, a sense of effortlessness that is seductive. This is a top-class wine from the late Paul Pontallier and his team. Tasted January 2016.

James Suckling 94: Wonderful aromas of flowers such as roses, violets, strawberries and a hints of wet earth. Wet stones as well. Full to medium body, very firm tannins and a long, racy finish. Minerals and chalk on the aftertaste. Needs three to five years to soften. Better in 2020.

Vinous 94+: The 2012 Château Margaux is a wine that, based on this showing, is a little closed at the moment and needs the most coaxing from the glass. Plenty of black fruit in situ, although it does not really blossom. It is very well-balanced, quite deep and powerful, but it needs time to develop refinement on the finish. Cellar for another few years. Tasted blind in Bordeaux.

Wine Enthusiast 95: This elegant wine is very much in the classic style of Margaux. Although the wood is still showing, the wine has fresh black currant fruits along with an underlying firm, long-lived tannic structure. The aftertaste with its dryness and acidity confirms that. Drink from 2025.

Wine Advocate 95+: The 2021 Château Margaux saw a traditional élevage in new barrels, with bottling in July, and as readers will remember, it's a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot that benefited from late picking, appreciable percentages of saignée, and a strict selection. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of cassis, blueberries and raspberries mingled with hints of licorice, white flowers and charcoal, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a broad attack, lively purity and sweet structuring tannins, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. It's a classic that will richly reward bottle age.

James Suckling 98: The purity of fruit here is terrific, with redcurrants, blackcurrants, licorice, lead pencil and hints of fresh basil—so aromatic—that follow through to a full body with creamy, round tannins and lots of volume and fluidity in the center-palate for the vintage. Very structured at the end. 87% cabernet sauvignon, 8% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot. Leave this for at least five or six years. Try after 2030.

Decanter 96: The 2021 Château Margaux is creamy and supple, a classy Margaux with the volume turned down just a bit. Succulent dark cherry, red plum, spice and rose petal infuse the 2021 with layers of succulent depth. This is a quiet wine, but one that possesses notable richness for the year. Time in the glass brings out the aromatics, but this remains very much built on its fruit.

Wine Enthusiast 98: It is the blackberry fruits that leap from the glass in this fine wine. Its structure is there, but in a way that is so elegant. The wood tannins give structure and layers of concentration. The wine is juicy with black-currant flavors giving great density of freshness. Drink from 2028.

Wine Advocate 97+: The 2022 Château Margaux has come together brilliantly with élevage. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of blackcurrants, blackberries, cedary pencil shavings and pen ink that are deftly framed by new oak, it's full-bodied, dense and layered, with a concentrated core of intensely sweet fruit, broad structural shoulders and a long, resonant finish. With air, it only becomes more voluptuous, yet that's controlled by underlying tannic grip to deliver a more classical profile than was apparent during élevage.

James Suckling 99: I have never encountered a wild Margaux like this. Cassis and blackcurrant aromas with hints of crushed stones and bitter chocolate. The palate is full-bodied but not heavy or ponderous. Really well-structured with fantastic fine tannins that tighten on the palate, giving this so much liveliness and length. Compacted and energetic at the end. 92% cabernet sauvignon and 6% merlot and 2% cabernet franc. Exceptional. Best after 2029.

Vinous 100: The 2022 Château Margaux obliged reams of superlatives from barrel. Now in bottle, it is a stone-cold breathtaking First Growth that belongs on the mantelpiece alongside the 1959 and 1983. That said, at first, the aromatics are bashful, yet it takes little to unfurl in jaw-dropping fashion, armed with heavenly pure black fruits laced with peony and iris flower and exuding mineralité (which is a mighty achievement given the season). The palate is imbued with stunning pixelation. There is a little more structure than I recall-an enthralling sense of architecture and thrilling tension, the pH of around 3.65 imparting acidic spine. Winemaker Philippe Bascaule remarked that he cannot compare the 2022 to another vintage. This is a profound Château Margaux that sets a contemporary benchmark.

Decanter 98: Soft floral aromatics take time to emerge, revealing violets, blackcurrants, tobacco, cedar, and tar. Deep and seductive, layers of scents - violets, blackcurrants, tobacco, liquorice, slate, tar, cedar. Silky tannins and concentrated fruit create an effortlessly graceful wine. Harmonious in every element - tannins, acidity, and freshness are perfectly aligned. A soft caress rather than a bold embrace, but with strength and backbone. I love the juicy core with excellent acidity. Clean and precise. I can't see this not being enjoyable at any time over the next 10-20 years. 3.61pH.