Chateau Margaux
Chateau Margaux, one of the five Premier Grand Cru
clarets, is often cited as the ultimate demonstration of
what the Old World can offer: elegance, refinement,
breeding, and a full expression of the particular terroir of
the vineyard. Yet it has not always been this way; in the
1960s and 1970s, in particular, the estate was trading
heavily on past glories, and it was not until 1977 that a
change in ownership brought about the reversal in fortunes
that has led Margaux back to its exalted position as one of
the world’s greatest red wines.
Grown primarily on gravely soil, the vines of the estate
are a mix of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot,
sauvignon blanc (for the white wine) and petit verdot, with
cabernet sauvignon, in common with Chateau Margaux’s left
bank brethren, being predominant, both in terms of area
planted and in the final blend of the estate’s first red
wine. Harvesting is by hand, enabling careful selection of
only perfectly ripe grapes, and the wine is fermented in oak
vats before spending a further two years in new French oak
barrels.
Our recommended vintage -1996 - was expected to be a
washout after heavy rain in parts of July and August
tempered earlier enthusiasm for the classic vintage that a
hot and dry June had seemed to indicate, However, the left
bank was less affected than the right bank by these
conditions, primarily because the cabernet sauvignon grape
responded better than the merlot grape to the ripening
conditions and harvest (which, incidentally, was drier on
the left bank.) The result is a classic Chateau Margaux that
exhibits all of the qualities for which the estate is
famous, but is available at a more realistic price than some
of the more hyped vintages.
The nose of the 1996 is rich and complex, with floral
notes, and even an iron-like quality. On the palate there is
very much a traditional structure that is classically
elegant; there is the sense of balance here that is often
missing in some of the more powerful modern wines that have
come to the fore in the last decade. The cherry and dark
fruit overtones are mature, rather than upfront, and are
complemented by peppery, but finely judged, tannins, leading
to a finish that leaves these flavours ringing in one’s
mouth for what seems like minutes.
Like the other so called ‘blue chip’ wines of Bordeaux,
Chateau Margaux is affected by all of the downsides of
investment-related price inflation, but, even the most
objective wine taster, who is able to remove entirely the
mythical aura that the estate has acquired, would struggle
to reach any other conclusion than that the prices are
justified, however artificial they may be.
