Château Margaux
Château Margaux is probably the most known wine in the world.
It pictures the essence of style and elegance in ones mind on hearing its name.
This has not always been the case as it has shown more ups and downs than most other premier crus. It was performing under ist potential for most of the 1960s and 70s (as did Lafite and Mouton). The main reason was lack of money to invest in cellars and selection of only the best wines.
This changed dramatically as André Mentzelopoulos bought the property from the Ginestet family in 1977. With the help of Emile Peynaud as consultant and regisseur Pilippe Barre (soon to be followed by the very talented Paul Pontallier) Château Margaux has since the 1978 vintage shown impressive consistency and always been producing one of the top wines in every vintage since.
Here are some notes from older to quite recent tastings.
1890 – still some sweet fruit but showing age in 1993.
1893 – pale colour. Lovely nose with a touch of melted butter. Lovely sweet fruit. Fabulous.
1899 –a magnum with a back sticker noting it came from the restaurant in Hamburgs railway station. Still some fruit but showing age. A doublemagnum at a Rodenstock tasting - very sweet, alcoholic and portlike. Fake?
1900 – I have had this three times – once out of a magnum. Sadly all fakes.
1921 – good sweet and dense. Bit herbal finish.
1924 – still alive 12 years ago. Some fruit but acidity starting to dominate.
1925 – tawny rim, mushroomy nose, some elegance. Drying out.
1926 - mature colour. Some sweetnes, drinking well but showing some acidity on the finish.
1928 – very youthful and concentrated wine. Great finish. Very good.
1929 – a lovely sweet nose. Sweet fruit typical of the vintage. Not the concentation of the -28 but with more charm.
1934 – some sweet fruit but showing its age.
1937 – high acidity. Past it.
1940 – porty sweetness. Bitter finish. Spirity. Bit tarty and unpleasant.
1943 – stinky. Sweet and sour. Dead.
1945 – closed nose. Quite restrained. Some sweet fruit. Bit dry finish. Very, very good out of a magnum.
1947 – one of the greatest vintages of Château Margaux – both in the château bottling and the van-der-Meulen bottling. A beautiful wine ageing at a snails pace.
1948 – surprisingly good.
1949 – good nose. Good, sweet and delicious. Classic Medoc style but showing some acidity now. Drink up.
1952 – lightweight but charming wine. Should drink soon.
1953 – mature colour. Sweet lovely and delicate. Drink soon.
1955 – light colour. A delicate, still beautiful and elegant old lady. Drink soon.
1957 – I remember it being quite good for the vintage. The acidity had conserved the fruit.
20 years ago it showed very well – I called it the ugly duckling, turning out better than originally thought.
1958 – tawny and old.
1959 – I have had this wine on numerous occasions and it has never disappointed. A gorgeous wine!
1960 – spicy nose of coffee, sweet but getting old.
1961 – a wonderful wine from a magic vintage still drinking very well.
1962 – good sweet fruit. Probably past ist best by now.
1963 – sour and horrible.
1964 – much better than ist reputation. Several notes – all good. Good fruit, minty, long. Paul Pontallier once told me that he also found this much better than ist reputation.
Non vintage – a cuvée of 1963, -64 and -65 if I remember right. An attempt to make something good out two miserable vintages and a fairly good one. Not successful.
1966 – good and stylish. 1966 backbone and fruit to balance it. More structure than charm.
1967 – some fruit left 20 years ago. Should be pretty dead now.
1968 – rosé colour. Lacking everything.
1969 – tannic and unpleasant.
1970 – quite short and lean. Reasonably good in a magnum. Poor for the vintage.
1971 – some charm and sweet fruit. Ageing now.
1972 – some sweet fruit, thin, short.
1973 – stinky and unpleasant.
1974 – very tannic. No fruit. Horrible.
1975 – typical for the vintage in Medoc. Too little fruit to balance the hard tannins.
1976 – dry tannins. Some fruit. Not good.
1977 – green tanninns. Was never good.
1978 – very good. One of the top 1978s. Should be drunk.
1979 – a good wine. Drink soon.
1980 – quite good 20 years ago. Good for the vintage. Probably past it now.
1981 – similar to 1979 but a bit fresher. A good wine.
1982 – great concentration. Lovely, but not the balance of the 1983.
1983 – a lovely wine with great concentration of fruit. For me: The Wine of the Vintage.
1984 – lean with dry tannins. No joy.
1985 – a fabulous wine. Elegant – a younger version of ist 1953. Lovely.
1986 – good fruit and concentration but with quite dry tannins. I’m not sure that it will ever soften.
1987 – similar to 1984 but a bit fresher.
1988 – a good classic Bordeaux vintage that has taken its time to come around. I think this will develope much better than the 1986.
1989 – ready to drink now. Soft tannins. Almost Napa in style. Lacking something to be amongst the top 1989s.
1990 – a very good wine. Soft tannins and sweet fruit. Ready now.
1991 – a bit lightweight. Still good for this difficult frost vintage.
1992 – similar to 1991.
1993 – Fresh fruit. A bit tannic finish. Drink up.
1994 – similar to the 1993 but a bit fresher.
1995 – good fruit and none of the dry tannins of many 1995s. Very good.
1996 – very good concentrated fruit. Good cabernet nose with a touch of eucalyptus. Soft tannins. Will age very well. Wonderful wine.
1997 – good for the vintage. A bit green tannins. Should be drunk.
1998 – good sweet fruit. Very nice.
1999 – very good now.
2000 – great concentration of fruit. Soft tannins. Long finish. Good to drink already.
2003 – good concentration of fruit. I’m not sure how it will age.
2006 – young – needs time.
2010 – a giant. Big and tannic with concentrated fruit. Will become a legendary Margaux.