Chateau Margaux is today one of the most revered wines in the world, one of just five Bordeaux First Growth's, and with a history that goes all the way back to the 12th century, with even its vineyards having been largely unchanged in the past 100 years from the estate's beginnings of wine growing.

It is a wine renowned for its aromatic intensity, consistency, elegance and finesse. It's often said to be weightless and sensual, with the greatest of perfumes, and even amongst the five First Growth's, it often ranks amongst the top picks. It is a beautiful wine that even the historic US President Thomas Jefferson so loved, and was also the first claret to ever be sold at Christie's auction. It's also the only of the First Growths to belong to the Margaux appellation, and showcases a composition that is fairly consistent with its Pauillac neighbours Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Latour, with a dominant percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon and a relatively higher use of Merlot, as a result of its gravel and sand focused soils (as opposed to the other First Growths which feature more clay). And so today we'll learn everything about Chateau Margaux!

A historic estate that remains almost as it was a century ago!

A Noble Start

In its earliest, the estate was known as La Mothe (La Mothe de Margaux), where "motte" referred to a small rise in the land, and was a name that was in fact reserved for royalty. Now back then there were no vineyards yet and the land was instead used for growing grain. It was successively owned by families of nobility, and only took shape to be the estate we know today under the Lestonnac family. In the late-1500's, Pierre de Lestonnac began a series of revamps that turned the property looking much closer to what it is today - most notably, he would scrape grain growing and instead have one-third of the acreage be devoted to winemaking - this was the start of Chateau Margaux as we know it.

Successive families who came to own Chateau Margaux would continue to steward the estate, with a prominent streak of female proprietors, and in one knot of the family tree, even find themselves connected to fellow First Growth Chateau Haut-Brion by marriage with the estate's Pontac family. In those centuries, the estate would grow to its fairly sizeable 265 hectares, of which as has consistently been the case, one-third of it would always remain devoted to vine growing, with the rest given to parkland and greenery.

A Most Pioneering Estate Manager Comes Along

Most crucially, the estate's success can be particularly attributed to one estate manager by the name of Berlon. Berlon was far ahead of the wine game, and would introduce into the estate numerous incredibly forward sighted initiatives that substantially improved the wine's quality far beyond its peers - which is also an outstanding achievement considering the estate's broadly traditional culture where modern techniques tend to be carefully studied for long before ever being implemented. Berlon would first separately vinify the red and white varietals - which is obvious enough today, yet was poorly understood then as red and white vines would commonly be planted altogether in the same plots in those days! Berlon would also avoid picking fruit early in the morning as he correctly understood that the fruit's concentration would be diluted by the morning dew. He would also identify different terroirs and chart out separate plots, where he would be early to properly understand how soil differences affected the fruit. Under Berlon, Chateau Margaux would produce wines that were much more concentrated and could age far better.

A Series Of Restarts And Twists And Turns Of Fate

Unfortunately though, this was not to last. The French Revolution would see the estate confiscated and allowed to dilapidate. Thankfully, by 1810 the estate would come under the watch of the Marquis de la Colonilla who would help bring about revitalisation to the estate. He would hire the famed architect Louis Combes who would be responsible for designing the First Empire style chateaux that sits on the estate today. Perhaps most thoughtfully, Combes would design the building to surround the chateau, allowing for all necessary winemaking equipment to be within reach of one another, adding a substantial touch of functionality to Chateau Margaux. This was all completed in time for Chateau Margaux to clinch First Growth in the fateful 1855 Bordeaux Classification which has underpinned its reputation till this day.

The following decades would bring about hardship once again to Bordeaux - phylloxera outbreak, two world wars and a recession in between certainly did a number on the region, and Chateau Margaux was no outlier. This would nevertheless birth the estate's beloved second wine in 1906, the Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux, which was devised as a way to bottle wines that did not make the Grand Vin, as the vineyards then required serious replanting and thus held many young vines that were not yet of utmost quality.

Corinne Mentzelopoulos and her father Andre Mentzelopoulos at Chateau Margaux.

And so over the next several decades, the estate would once again find itself passed along from one owner to the next - at one point even the Coca-Cola Company had tried to acquire the estate, only to be vetoed by then French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing on the grounds of the estate being a vital part piece of French heritage and culture. 

Chateau Margaux Into Modernity

Finally in 1976 it would come to be acquired by the very owners of the estate today - the Mentzelopoulos family, who is behind the French grocery group Felix Potin and the famous wine merchant Nicholas. Under the Mentzelopoulos family, the estate has been in good hands, with the family sparing little expense in restoring the vineyards and the built architecture of the estate. The family named famed oenologist Emile Peynaud as consultant for the vineyard, and although its exact acquirer Andre Mentzelopoulos passed away fairly shortly after the estate's acquisition, his daughter Corinne Mentzelopoulos has nevertheless done an exceptional job of managing Chateau Margaux.

Corinne Mentzelopoulos and Paul Pontallier.

Under Corinne, who also happens to control the Perrier water company, the estate would at one point be part owned by the Agnelli family that is most famous for their founding of Fiat (the automobile giant), but more importantly, she would astutely appoint Paul Pontallier, then just a 27 year old oenology PhD student without any professional experience who did his research on the effect of barrel ageing red wines, to the haloed role of managing director of the First Growth estate. Under Pontallier, the estate would take on initiatives that would raise even further the quality of Chateau Margaux's wines - from increasing vineyard density, to practicing green harvesting and reducing yields, these all had the effect of concentrating the wine's flavours and giving it sheer intensity. The estate would also substantially raise its selection criteria for the Grand Vin, with each passing year seeing less of its wine make the cut for the Grand Vin - its rouge even has a third wine and its blanc a second wine, with technically a fourth cut of red fruit being sold in bulk to negociants. Since the 1980's, Grand Vin production has been reduced from 20,000 cases to just 12,000 cases!

With Pontallier at the helm, the estate would make a big push for quality to go up once again from the 2009 vintage. With a new gravity fed reception area and new vats, the estate would judiciously add optical sorting technology into their toolkit (even though Pontallier himself had an overt preference for manual sorting), and with the fruits hand harvested and having undergone successive rounds of sorting, it would then be vinified separately in 50 vats for the 40 plots, with 1% of the grapes whole cluster vinified, all of which giving Margaux unparalleled precision in its winemaking. This would be further amplified in 2015 with the reconstruction of their cellars which had stood in its original form since 1810, this time done under the Pritzker prize-winning architect Lord Norman Foster. In 2016, Pontallier would pass away, having overseen over thirty vintages of Chateau Margaux's winemaking. The estate would pay tribute to its long-time winemaker with a special one-time label that read "Hommage a Paul Pontallier".

Yet the pursuit for quality continues on at the estate - in 2017, the estate had converted entirely to organic farming, with further experimentation into biodynamics. Most recently in 2023, Corinne would step down after 43 years at the helm of Chateau Margaux, allowing her son Alexis to takeover as CEO of the estate, and her daughter Alexandra as the President of the Board of the company.

Into The Vineyards And Cellars Of Chateau Margaux

Going into the vineyards, as mentioned earlier, Chateau Margaux remains fairly consistent with its original form from even over a century ago. Today the 262 hectare estate, with 93 hectares planted with vines, are planted with 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc for the reds, and 100% Sauvignon Blanc (with very little Semillon) for the white. Most of its vineyards, which can be divided into 3 sections and 80 parcels, are situated close to the chateau, and can be characterised as gravelly and sandy. The vines are 35 years old on average , with some Cabernet Sauvignon vines getting up to 80 years old, whilst some Merlots and Petit Verdots can reach up to 60 years old. In recent years, in an effort to counteract the effects of global warming, the estate has been gradually changing the orientation of its vines from a south-west exposure to a north-east exposure to offer more coolness and shade.

Winemaking at Chateau Margaux consists of hand harvesting and multiple rounds of manual sorting at both the fields and at the chateau, with the fruit then vinified in a combination of wood and stainless steel vats. Malolactic fermentation takes place in the vats, with the red wines then aged in 100% new oak for 18-24 months - these barrels are produced at the Chateau's own on-site cooperage (which remains fairly rare in Bordeaux). In a recent bid to prevent counterfeiting, the estate has taken to laser etching its bottles and also including a proof tag system.

And so with all that said, it's time to see how Chateau Margaux's Grand Vin tastes!

PS. Where else in the world could you try a Chateau Margaux by the glass other than at 67 Pall Mall, evidently the wine club to be part of, considering that they have a 1,000 bottle wine list that's available by the glass! It's a who's who of a wine list from up and coming producers to icons and legendary producers, all priced almost at cost - and of course you get to hang out at the club's incredibly gorgeous bar and restaurant, the latter of which also serves some outlandishly amazing food. If you're into wines, this is a club you definitely need to be a part of.

Wine Review: 2003 Chateau Margaux, Premier Grand Cru Classe

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Garnet

Aroma: Heaps of freshly tilled soil, evocative and vivid of that rustic quality, with also some animal hide and barnyard notes. It has a phenomenal depth and concentration, completely drawn in. The fruits are tucked in deep and condensed with berry preserves of raspberries, dark cherries and blackberries. They lean in the direction of fruit reduction. It's at once incredibly earthy and rustic, yet remains focused and concentrated on fruit preserves, delivering the aromas with this intensity yet svelte and almost satin-like, lifted and fresh quality.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, it continues to be so texturally elegant, with this plushness and seamlessness, with such a concentrated and velvety body. It remains super earthy, with all these dried tobacco leaves, lots of freshly tilled soil and some animal hide and leather. Such depth! It's buoyed on a sweeter tone of dark cherries, raspberries and blackberries which bring out some brighter acidity, along with a deeper and more rounded sweetness. The tannins feel non-existent yet the body is incredibly firm and structured. It never comes off heavy, yet always remains firm and concentrated.

Finish: More of that persistent rustic notes of barnyard, freshly tilled soil, with this time more clove spices, making way for more of a spiced and savoury finish. The tannins remain firm, polished and at the back. Tobacco, as well as some of those darker fruits linger, giving a long finish that again delivers this incredible depth.

My Thoughts

Absolutely stunning, and just for a second I'm going to toss away all the superlatives and just say that this was so ridiculously tasty! It's concentrated with flavour, completely packed, yet at the same time has this firm texture, with all this depth to it - it almost feels like an endless time space tunnel that I'm barrelling through! Largely comprised of two elements, the first being this rustic earthiness, and the other being fruit preserves, they feel raw and pure, and also bold, yet without ever feeling like it's in your face, but it's so forward that you're never grappling at trying to identify what it is. It's also really polished and satin-like, with the tannins firm and the body structured, yet it never makes itself apparent, letting the richness of the fruit greet you whilst holding it in place. It feels magical almost!

It features great aromatic intensity, and balance on the body, with some brightness of acidity added to the fold of earthiness and rich and concentrated fruit, seamlessly leading you through the finish where more spices emerge, with also some savouriness, before making way for this long lasting finish of fruit and tobacco, that just feels almost of antiquity and refinement. It's confident, it's got character, and it always feels so charismatic and charming, boasting this almost presidential verve. It moves slowly almost yet so deftly and boldly, seamlessly with such elegance and grace. A truly impressive wine that never ceases to amaze.