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A tremendous contrast to Ch Palmer with 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, this has intense and direct cassis-fruit aromas and flavours. A wine of real intensity and bright freshness. Possibly slightly less refined than some years, this is deep and structured and has all the potential to blossom into a very fine wine following bottle age.
A tremendous contrast to Ch Palmer with 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, this has intense and direct cassis-fruit aromas and flavours. A wine of real intensity and bright freshness. Possibly slightly less refined than some years, this is deep and structured and has all the potential to blossom into a very fine wine following bottle age.
Tasted blind at the 2012 Southwold tasting, the 2012 Château Margaux has a taut, linear, pencil lead-infused bouquet with pure blackberry and boysenberry scents, an undercurrent of tobacco that surfaces after five minutes in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, a life-affirming sense of balance with well-integrated new oak towards the finish. I concur with Robert Parker that his has become more structured and masculine in bottle, yet there is pedigree here from start to finish, a sense of effortlessness that is seductive. This is a top-class wine from the late Paul Pontallier and his team. Tasted January 2016.
The 2012 Chateau Margaux, 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot was picked around September 25th with the early ripening Merlot and the heart of the harvest was in early October. Most of the harvest was in before the rains. It has a very fragrant bouquet with macerated dark cherries, minerals, cold stone, a touch of seaweed and a seam of graphite. The palate is medium-bodied with superb tension on the entry. It is very focused with tensile tannins. There is not a huge a huge weight here – and it segues into a Pauillac like, edgy finish. Tasted April 2013.
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87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. Chaptalised a little bit in 2012 – the first time for ages. Much less sugar than in the 1980s. Final alcohol is 13%. Paul Pontallier commented: Press wine is the single most important element, more than 17% in 2012. Blind you can't tell the press wine. Our greatest advance in winemaking. Great finesse. But perhaps a little minor key. Denser, analytically, than in 2010, 2005.Heady and very much in the same style as the Pavillon but a bit more emphatic. Grand – not in a monumental sense because there is nothing big about this. Very discreet and I think the two wines are closer together than usual. Drink 2022-2038
Shows a tight nose, but manages to convey pure, fresh notes of red fruit and violet. Almost sleek, with fine-grained tannins carrying the red currant paste and iron accents. The plum skin-tinged finish sings, displaying remarkable integration already. A very impressive showing today. Tasted non-blind. —J.M.
The 2012 Château Margaux is showing much differently from bottle than it did from cask. Seemingly much fuller and richer, it has a dense ruby/purple color, representing a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest mostly Merlot, as well as only 33% of their harvest. It possesses hints of spring flowers intermixed with blueberries, blackberries and cassis fruit, moderate tannin, a multi-dimensional mouthfeel, and a long, structured finish. This 2012 was charming, up-front and precociously styled from barrel, but in bottle it is more masculine, dense and rich. This wine needs a good 5-7 years of cellaring, and should keep well for 25 or more years. This is a great effort from Château Margaux, and should handsomely repay those who buy it. Anticipated maturity: 2023-2040.
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Plump, silky and seductive are the words often used to describe wines from Margaux. Because of their style, they tend to be user friendly and more approachable when young. This is in part due to its terroir which is comprised of the thinnest soil as well as the highest proportion of chunky gravel in all of the Médoc. It drains well but also is it more susceptible to vintage variation. Margaux wines tend to have the highest proportions of Merlot within the core of the Médoc further adding to their ample roundness and openness. Margaux is home to the largest number of classified growths including its namesake first growth, Château Margaux, as well as third growths, Palmer and d'Issan.
