Beschreibung:

Château Margaux I have so many fond memories of tasting Château Margaux, both en primeur at the château and at various dinners from bottle, that I don't know where to start. Maybe by the nature of the wine itself : Everyone seems to agree that the style of the wine is one of incredible finesse rather than of sheer power and of course I have to agree : there is just so much intriguing complexity in these wines. However I have noticed, over the course of the last forty years, a gradual evolution towards a more assertive, bolder kind of structure, veering even at times towards a Pauillac style. Maybe it is no coincidence that this evolution parallels a shift in the selections for the Grand Vin to more of the firmer styled Cabernet-Sauvignon and less of the softer Merlot. Each year I noted down the grape mix : Prior to 1995, I was told that most of the vintages had 70-75% Cab, that prior to 2006 it was more like 80-85% and since then often 90% and more. From listening each year to estate director Paul Pontallier's fascinating and very detailed story of the vintage, it was quite clear that he had tremendous respect for this grape and consequently tried to include as much of it as possible in the blend. I can't describe my experiences at Margaux without talking about this great man, very sadly passed away recently. When the young and, by her own admission inexperienced, Corinne Mentzelopoulos took over the reins of the estate in 1981, after the sudden death of her father André, she was looking to build up a technical team when this young man cheekily put in his application. They got on immediately and Paul ended up not only as estate director but also as its most thorough and honest spokesman. When he presented the wines, he was always so precise and detailed and I now have 35 years worth of hastily scribbled notes that are invaluable to me for my understanding of each of the vintages. All the vintages from '83 offerred today were made under his tutelle. The '78 was André Mentzelopoulos's first entire vintage, before most of the renovations could take effect, so very much in the traditional, dry and lighter style but, five years ago, still looking very graceful and polished ; the '82 was the first vintage I tasted there en primeur, served by the old cellarmaster Jean Grangerou, indeed a real typical Médocain cellarmaster in blue overalls and black apron. It rather surprised me in its lushness and fatness, not classic Margaux at all. Now, with its dry structure more apparent, its fatness has become sweetness, beautifully impregnated by its dry structure. It will be good for another 20 years. The '83, the Margaux appellation's « own » vintage, was a very gentle wine en primeur, then later became spicier and acquired great elegance and length. It too should go for 20 more years. Then, I would group together the '85, '86, '95 and '96 all more obviously Merlot-tannic vintages. I always preferred the '85 to the more rugged '86 but most people disagree. Similarly, Paul, who was permanently searching for finesse rather than weight, always said of the '95 and '96, contrary to accepted wisdom, that the latter had no pretention to be any better than the former. The '88 is a superb example of fine mature Margaux that is now softer than at the primeur tastings. I tasted the '89 en primeur with Grangerou who commented that it was more powerful than the '82 but less supple. I questioned its resiny oaky flavours and he told me not to worry. He was right and it has become a beautiful velvety wine. Like many other châteaux, I have not recently tasted the difficult vintages of the early 90s as you don't come across them too often these days, but at first, the Margaux '92, '93 and '94 all had great ripeness if also some hard tannins. The five youngest vintages of this offer represent the beginning of modern Margaux, all fleshier and therefore capable of absorbing more hardness of tannin, the '97 soft and spicy, the '98 that I thought was a Latour at