Some 600 members dined lavishly on the beautiful First Empire-style Château Margaux to mark its two hundredth anniversary again in 2015: ‘A fairytale-like occasion for which I might virtually surrender any future invites to dinner in Bordeaux,’ recollects service provider Michael Sands of Calvert Woodley Wines in Washington DC.
Scroll down for 20 Margaux wines to strive
Whilst you won’t be invited to dinner, visiting the Médoc with out seeing the splendour of Château Margaux is like consuming a cone with out the ice cream.
Château Margaux was one in every of solely 4 estates chosen as first development within the 1855 Classification for the Médoc – and the one categorized château that bears the identify of its appellation. Its Burgundian-like finesse mixed with underlying energy aptly exemplifies the Margaux appellation’s refined, perfumed class.
That comes largely from the principle slow-to-ripen Cabernet Sauvignon interacting with the notably mild gravel within the soil – among the many lightest of the Médoc. That is very true in vineyards positioned in Margaux and Cantenac (corresponding to Château Margaux itself), which make up the core of the appellation: 18 of the its 21 categorized growths are positioned throughout the communes of Margaux and Cantenac, which have been fused into one in 2017.
The very best vineyards are on well-drained slopes, the place these lighter soils give Margaux its nimble, silky facet. Additional north, the Pauillac and St-Estèphe appellations have extra clay, so the naturally draining – and heat – gravel of Margaux implies that grapes are inclined to ripen earlier in comparison with vineyards additional north.
Margaux mapped
Credit score: Maggie Nelson
Historians say that Margaux was the primary Bordeaux space to have seen vineyards planted, as early as 2,000 years in the past. However Margaux and the opposite Médoc appellations solely took trendy form after Dutch engineers drained marshes and swamps within the seventeenth century, allowing vineyards to flourish.
At 1,530ha beneath vine – or 9% of all the Médoc winery (supply: margaux-wines.com, bordeaux.com) – Margaux is the biggest of all of the Médoc’s communal appellations and consists of one third of its categorized wines, spanning rankings from first to fifth development.
With such a big appellation – and 44 different producers along with the 21 categorized growths – it’s no marvel that high quality just isn’t as constant as within the smaller appellations of St-Julien or Pauillac. I’ve tasted Margaux wines (categorized or in any other case) that aren’t as elegant as anticipated. Maybe a case might be made that the ‘barely richer kinds’ of the southern communes of Arsac and Labarde, which rely however three categorized growths, will not be as classically ‘Margaux’ as they is likely to be, posits Ben Giliberti, wine educator and former wine author for The Washington Put up.
However many producers all through Margaux have so improved viticulture and winemaking that the appellation is healthier than ever. And the stress on class will be overemphasised. ‘We should always cease with the clichés, because the wines are definitely elegant, but in addition very structured,’ stresses Emmanuel Cruse of third development Château d’Issan.
Edouard Miailhe, president of the Syndicat Viticole de Margaux, explains that Margaux’s ‘nice energy is the number of soils’, which regularly results in totally different kinds. Certainly, the appellation kinds a hotch-potch of various sorts – from chalk and limestone to clay and sand, though the most effective websites are discovered on low hills of gravel.
It’s price noting that, with world local weather change, a current development – and never simply in Margaux – is planting Cabernets on colder clay soils, to make sure higher freshness. The very best estates have had the means and alternative to amass optimum plots to combine collectively.
Margaux at a look
Appellation created 1954
Soils Gravel guidelines, but in addition vital pockets of clay, together with chalk, limestone and sand
Communes Arsac, Labarde, Margaux-Cantenac, Soussans
Producers 65, together with 21 categorized growths
Space planted 1,530ha – the biggest of the Médoc’s six communal appellations
Most yield 57hl/ha, though averages at 45hl/ha
Grapes 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 4.5% Petit Verdot, 2.5% Cabernet Franc (a rise of Cabernet plantings over Merlot lately)
Supply: Maison du Vin de Margaux (primarily based on 2021 figures)
Higher than ever
The revered Château Margaux – the one categorized château to bear the identify of its appellation. Credit score: Jean-Pierre Muller / AFP by way of Getty Photographs
Margaux: Know your vintages
2018, 2019, 2020 Glorious trio of age-worthy vintages
2017 Stable, if considerably dilute classic
2016 Benchmark for each class and construction
2015 Opulent, with spectacular palate density
2014 Frank, recent and underrated, however not so good as both 2015 or 2016
2013 Weak classic, time to drink up
2012 Preliminary attraction and opulence, however barely quick on end
2011 Cool and with a protracted end, however missing the attraction of 2012
2010 Daring, highly effective and veritable ‘classic of the century’, however wants extra time
2009 A stunning classic as we speak, and sure properly into the longer term
Environmental focus
A minimum of seven Margaux properties are ‘closely invested’ in each natural and biodynamic viticulture and winemaking, says Miailhe. Château Palmer – whose director Thomas Duroux is an agronomist and oenologist with a love of jazz – has raised the eco-bar for this storied third development, which deserves first development standing. Benefiting from wonderful gravel and cooler clays, leading to an virtually even mix between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Duroux retains blazing a path for natural and biodynamic viticulture: the elevated purity of the wines additionally intensifies the seductive attraction and density for which Palmer is so well-known.
In the meantime, in 2009, Gonzague Lurton launched biodynamic winemaking at second development Château Durfort-Vivens, which was licensed by Demeter in 2016. As former president of the Syndicat Viticole de Margaux, Lurton facilitated a research in 2015 by the College of Bordeaux’s ISVV (Institute of Vine and Wine Science) with the goal of widening biodiversity for fauna and flora in Margaux.
Below the present presidency of Miailhe, the goal is to recolonise the appellation. Via the ‘Margaux, Terroir de Biodiversité’ initiative, eco reservoirs are being created, with new tree groves, hedgerows, thickets and wildflower plantations on fallow land in-between and across the vines.
Touring Margaux
Positioned solely 25km north of town of Bordeaux, Margaux lends itself to wine tourism. Alexis Lichine at Château Prieuré-Lichine was an early pioneer within the Fifties, when he opened doorways year-round for professionals and personal connoisseurs. His philosophy continues as we speak on the property, the place the newest initiative – beginning this 12 months – is a tour on electrical bikes supplied by the château.
A minimum of 17 properties have wine tourism programmes. In Labarde alone, Châteaux Dauzac, Giscours and Siran are open year-round. Additional north, in Soussans, Château Paveil de Luze grew to become the primary Bordeaux property to promote stays on Airbnb. Don’t miss the nice and cozy welcome at Château Marquis d’Alesme, simply off the principle road of Margaux, the place you possibly can stroll alongside beautiful, landscaped gardens or seize lunch (indoors or out) at its in-house restaurant: a good way to get pleasure from glorious third development Margaux.
In 2024, a vineyard renovation at Château Palmer dubbed ‘the village’ is predicted to incorporate a restaurant, a landscaped space the place guests can take walks, and a vegetable backyard impressed by the ideas of permaculture.
‘We now have a fantastic custom of welcoming individuals,’ says Philippe Delfaut of Château Kirwan, which opened its doorways to guests in 2019. ‘You may come and not using a reservation, however it’s higher to make one,’ he factors out – and identical will be mentioned for many estates, particularly higher identified names.
For extra info on wine tourism in Margaux, go to vins-demargaux.fr/oenotourisme
9 Margaux estates to know
Château Paveil de Luze, Margaux
Margaux second development Château Rauzan-Ségla usually exudes cool class and spectacular palate density. It’s arguably the third-best property in Margaux (after Châteaux Margaux and Palmer), benefiting from high terroirs, the mixing of which ‘makes magic’, in keeping with director Nicolas Audebert.
Since taking on in 2015, Audebert follows former director John Kolasa’s philosophy of ‘evolutionary’ enchancment, he says. Over the following 10 years, for instance, a minimum of one third of the 70ha beneath vine might be replanted, partly to alter photo voltaic publicity due to world local weather change.
Two neighbouring categorized estates identified for crafting high-quality wines at pleasant pricing embody the beguiling perfumed class of Château Brane-Cantenac, a second development that may strategy the extent of Château Palmer. Proprietor Henri Lurton makes the a lot of the excellent terroir, together with 12-metre deep gravels, the place Cabernet thrives, yielding wines of energy, construction and finesse.
His next-door neighbour, the economically priced third development Château Cantenac Brown, has a lot improved since José Sanfins grew to become director in 2006. Sustainability is a precedence at this property: a brand new 5,000m² zero-carbon cellar for the 2023 harvest might be constructed utilizing an previous strategy of ‘rammed earth building’, compressing in situ clay and sand to type the partitions of the brand new constructing. As soon as it’s full, guests is not going to solely have the ability to benefit from the outstanding Tudor-style château, but in addition ‘nature at their fingertips’.
Third development Château d’Issan lately bought a lot of the vines owned by Château Pontac-Lynch, a cru bourgeois since 1932 that borders Château Margaux. New soils and varieties from that buy, together with Petit Verdot and Malbec, give director Emmanuel Cruse extra choices for mixing. However that’s simply the tip of the iceberg: the property has been firing on all cylinders since a minimum of the fantastic 2005 classic, after Cruse and his staff put in a brand new vat room in 2002, with a gravity system and vat sizes equivalent to vine plots.
I recall tasting Château Kirwan earlier than present director Philippe Delfaut arrived in 2007. From 1991 to 2005, Michel Rolland was guide and the wines have been very properly made, however extra plump than wonderful. Delfaut, who had prior expertise at Château Palmer, improved the wines at this third development by harvesting earlier and decreasing the fermentation temperature to 27°C to protect freshness. He has added different-sized tanks to match vine plots in order to ‘categorical the terroir with purity and precision’.
Château Brane-Cantenac. Credit score: Per Karlsson, BKWine 2 / Alamy Inventory Photograph
At Château Prieuré-Lichine, a 15-year winery restructuring plan has contributed to improved high quality, says business director Lise Latrille. It’s the one categorized property to have winery plots in all Margaux communes, and the plan helped to readapt grape varieties to vine plots. The fourth development property has improved trellising and elevated planting density to 10,000 vines per hectare.
In 2013, it restructured the harvest reception space for gravity vatting and started working with 34 concrete vats of various sizes to enhance precision on parcel picks. In a blind tasting of Margaux 2020 wines final 12 months it was among the finest, with spectacular palate depth.
Margaux can be house to many glorious non-classified wines, together with Château La Tour de Mons, a cru bourgeois supérieur that has improved vastly since 2020, with its first harvest by hand within the trendy period.
One other identify price figuring out is cru bourgeois exceptionnel Château Paveil de Luze. A number of years in the past, I hosted a cru bourgeois tasting in Montreux, Switzerland, the place members particularly appreciated this pure, floral wine, constructed from grapes grown on vines from 32 contiguous hectares of deep gravel. For about €20, you get admirable Margaux.
Additional south, Château Siran is perched on a plateau of wonderful siliceous gravel over previous alluvium, metres from the temperature buffering Gironde estuary. It was categorized as one in every of solely 9 cru bourgeois exceptionnel estates in a short-lived 2003 classification, together with such high manufacturers as Châteaux Phélan Ségur (St-Estèphe), Haut-Marbuzet (St-Estèphe) and Poujeaux (Moulis-en-Médoc) – all of which have since deserted the cru bourgeois nomenclature.
Within the 15 years since taking on from his dad and mom, Edouard Miailhe has improved on this success, replanting 13 plots out of 37, at 10,000 vines per hectare. He additionally launched smaller vats, then refurbished the cellars in 2019. Ably assisted since 2014 by the proficient guide Hubert de Boüard (of Château Angélus in St-Emilion), he produces wines with wonderful palate density and Margaux class – and which might be economically priced.
High picks: 20 Margaux wines to strive
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