There is no more famous, iconic or identifiable Chateau in all Bordeaux than that of Chateau Margaux. Sitting discreetly just to the Gironde-side of the commune of Margaux, nearly invisible to passing traffic, the beauty and magnificence of the Chateau is literally breath-taking as you approach. With 78 hectares under vine, including 66 hectares to red varieties (75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 5% split between Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) and some 12 hectares planted to white – entirely Sauvignon Blanc – total production is around 30,000 dozen bottles per year – impressive even by Bordeaux standards. Unlike many Bordeaux properties, the landholdings and vineyard locations have barely changed during the past two centuries, with more than 90% of all landholdings remaining identical to those of the late 18th century.
99 Points James Suckling
This marathon runner is currently in the no-man’s land between youthful vitality and mellow maturity. There’s a very serious tannin structure here, but it needs a lot longer to fully resolve. Very tight and closed. A perfect wine usually. But not today.
97 Points Decanter
Right now, at 20 years old, this wine is approaching its perfect drinking beginning – by which I mean it is now stepping up onto the plateau that the best wines get to, where you don’t need to worry about opening them immediately, but you can feel confident that you are going to be getting the best of them if you choose to do so. Although we didn’t taste the 2000 in this particular lineup, on recent openings it is a more muscular and closed down than the 2001, and will probably last longer, but this is just blindingly delicious right now. The descriptions that are most often associated with Château Margaux must surely be finessed tannins and floral aromatics, and you have both of them in spades, along with gentle roasted fruits of plum and blackberry, violet, cedar spice, liquorice and tobacco. The tannins are fine and full of pleasure.