1996 Margaux, Château Margaux
About Producer
With wine being made here since the 16th century, much has been said about the history of this estate and its unique terroir. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson placed an order for Château Margaux on which he wrote ‘There couldn’t be a better Bordeaux bottle’. Multiple references to the wine are also to be found in literary works. To mention a few, a case of Château Margaux was the centrepiece in ‘Thou Art the Man’ (1844) by Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway famously declared in ‘The Sun Also Rises’ (1926) ‘I drank a bottle of wine for company. It was Château Margaux’ and in the second volume (‘The Reprieve’) of ‘The Roads to Freedom’ (1945), Jean-Paul Sartre had the two main protagonists enjoying a bottle of Château Margaux against the backdrop of the looming WWII. After dismal performances in the 1960s and 1970s, Château Margaux’ resurrection at the very top was mostly owing to the exceptional talent, vision and personality of the late Paul Pontallier (1956-2016) who joined the estate in 1983 at age 27 as director.
Varietals
Blend of 82% cabernet sauvignon, 12% merlot, 4% petit verdot and 2% cabernet franc.
About Appellation
Located at 25km north of the city of Bordeaux, Margaux AOC includes the communes of Arsac, Labarde, Margaux-Cantenac and Soussans. Though vines have been planted here since the Gallo-Roman era, viticulture got boosted in the 17th century, after King Louis XIII commissioned Dutch engineers to drain the swamps and marshlands around the Gironde estuary. The vineyards cover 1,530ha and sit on a silt and gravel plateau on limestone and some clay subsoil. Carmenère and malbec which are permitted for wines of the appellation have been dropped out, and the current predominant varietals are cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot. There are 21 grands crus classés in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, the most famous being first growth Château Margaux.
Tasting Notes
Captivating nose of black fruits, plum, leather, tobacco, wet stones and violet, lush mouthfeel with velvety texture, remarkable concentration and formidable presence, multilayered flavours of raspberry, strawberry, fig, chocolate, truffle and hints of sweet spices intermixed with subtle forest floor undertones, perfect acidity and powdery tannins leading onto a long, suave finish. Words are in short supply to describe the magnificence of this wine. There is a fascinating intertwining of intensity, complexity and freshness, wrapped in breathtaking elegance, that makes it one of the best Château Margaux I have ever tasted. With a dazzling display of controlled power and ethereal grace, both held in perfrect balance, it's a phenomenal wine that is the epitome of Left Bank first growth indeed. (03/2022)