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Tasting Notes
Ch. Margaux is great in 2021 – a wine that holds on to the property’s typicity while also being different in style to previous vintages. It shows the effect of the vintage so clearly, while never losing its precision. The nose is gorgeous with lightly scented peony, old rose and milk chocolate aromas. On the palate the wine has fantastic tannic flex – supple, layered almost elasticated tannins that bring effortless structure. While Margaux always veers towards a red fruit profile, this is more evident in 2021 than other vintages, with raspberry, cranberry and sour cherry fruit bringing real bite and freshness to the wine. The high-quality fruit sustains a long finish. Blend: 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
Critic Scores
Average Score
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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I think the wine of the vintage is the 2021 Château Margaux, which comes from a miniscule selection of just 36% of the total production. The final blend is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, all of which is resting in 100% new French oak. Reminding me slightly of a riper 1996, it has incredible purity in its ripe cassis and blueberry fruits as well as notes of liquid violets, spicy oak, graphite, and hints of sandalwood. As seamless as they come, medium to full-bodied, perfectly balanced, and with ample Château Margaux purity and finesse, this brilliant juice is as good as it gets in the vintage.
The 2021 Château Margaux is a powerful, surprisingly brooding wine. According to Technical Director Philippe Bascaules, dry extract numbers are in line with 2019, which is hardly surprising in tasting the wine. Today, the Grand Vin is so primary. The intensity of the dark red/purplish fruit is notable, and yet the wine is positively embryonic. Bright acids and plenty of tannin abound. The 2021 is a rich, penetrating Margaux that is going to need a lot of time.
The 2021 Château Margaux, aged in 100% new oak as usual, is clean and precise on the nose, much more discrete than the outgoing Pavillon Rouge and unfolds like a temptress in the glass. Intense dark cherries, hints of blueberry and trademark crushed violets then start to billow, all exquisitely defined. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky smooth veneer that does a good job disguising the structure underneath. Surprisingly plush given the growing season, the concentration is very impressive with no hard edges. It's a very Margaux-like Château Margaux insofar that it could not come from any other appéllation.
About the producer
Ch. Margaux is one of Bordeaux’s most historic and famous estates. The only classified First Growth in Margaux, it epitomises the appellation’s elegance, while producing wines with fantastic ageing potential.