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Château Margaux 1953

Château Margaux, Bordeaux, France

Château Margaux
Bordeaux France
  • 97
    Points
  • The 767 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 10 Pros of
    10 recommend
    this wine
969 97
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    656

  • Producer ranking ?

    30

  • Decanting time

    1h30min

  • When to drink

    now to 2030

  • Food Pairing

    braised beef dishes

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

Since the 17th Century, the first wine of Château Margaux has been recognised as being one of the greatest wines in the entire world. It owes its unique qualities to the genius of its terroir as well as to the passionate work of a succession of generations. It’s a remarkable wine that comes from a combination of characteristics that are only rarely found: finesse, elegance, complexity, density, intensity, length and freshness. Although its tan...

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Wine Information

Bordeaux Vintage Report by Château Margaux: 1953 is one of the greatest vintages of Château Margaux; it expresses, in any case, in a particularly perfect way, the genius of its terroir. The wine displays both an incomparable level of finesse and subtlety and a richness which enables it to remain today incredibly fresh. The bouquet of this wine approaches perfection. The nose of undergrowth mingles with aromas of flowers, red berry fruit and le...

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Vintage 1953

The 1953 became the first top vintage of the 1950s. The year turned out to be excellent, even if the heavy rains in September threatened to destroy a good year. The hot, dry summer was capped by a perfect August. The mercury exceeded 30°C for more than half of the days in August. Fortunately, rains in mid-September gave way to ideal harvest conditions in early October. The best wines of this vintage are united by their elegance, delicacy and t...

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Average Bottle Price

2917 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2005 2000
1 650€ +15.1% 1 433€ +10.3% 1 299€ -14.7% 1 522€ +51.6% 1 004€ -15.6% 1 189€ -11.4% 1 342€ +70.7% 786€ +151.9% 312€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Latest Pro-tasting notes

11 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Full

ending

Long, Smooth and Lingering

flavors

Leather, Earthy, Cedar, Tobacco, Mineral and Floral

nose

Seductive, Complex and Fresh

recommend

Yes

taste

Complex, Balanced, Developing, Medium-bodied, Fresh, Perfumed and Fragrant

Verdict

nice but not special and Well-rounded

Written Notes

The bouquet of this wine approaches perfection. The nose of undergrowth mingles with aromas of flowers, red berry fruit and leather, in an overall impression of extraordinary and moving delicacy. On the palate, we sense a measured, restrained power, which has developed over the years, to give a supreme form of smoothness and tenderness. The finish is starting to dry out slightly. Maybe we should think about drinking this magnificent wine...

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Fantastic nose of truffles and cherries. Incredible finesse, elegance and sophisticated charisma. This is perfect wine and old Bordeaux showing how it can seduce wine-lovers. Wow!

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  • 100p
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Information

Origin

Margaux, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Satisfactory

Investment potential

Below Average

Fake factory

There is a possibility

Glass time

1h

Inside Information

It was 1977, and young, 24-year-old Corinne Mentzelopoulos was very impressed as she stepped out to the bright white stairway of the palace that was built in the 19th century. They had just finished lunch that had taken place in a dark, ramshackle dining room. She could not yet foresee that as a result of the handshake between the two gentlemen on the stairs, her life would soon change. Her father, André Mentzelopoulos, became the first Greek winegrower in Bordeaux, as he bought the Château Margaux from Pierre Ginestet for 75 million francs. The historic estate had changed hands once again.

 


The estate has been occupied since at least the 12th century, but it was only with the arrival of the Lestonnac family in the 16th century that wine production became of particular importance, and in the 1570s Pierre de Lestonnac cleared many of the grain fields to make way for grapes. By 1700 the estate covered its present area of 265 hectares, and the 78 hectares devoted to vines has remained essentially unchanged since then.
Château Margaux has sought to achieve excellence in its wines for over 400 years now through painstaking and necessarily long studies of its terroir, through a constant desire to learn and innovate, by remaining sensitive to demanding markets, and above all through a passionate commitment that has been shared by the families that have succeeded each other at the estate.
At the end of the 17th century, it became part of the nascent elite “First Growths” – long before being established officially by the Classification of 1855. Since then, Château Margaux has known fame and fortune, seeing by experience how ephemeral both are…
Today Corinne Mentzelopoulos, supported by her team led by Paul Pontallier, and following in her father André Mentzelopoulos' footsteps, devotes her time and energy to radiating her enthusiasm for this wine, whose name is synonymous with greatness, balance and harmony.

 


Pontallier drew most of his learning and production philosophy from Peynaud. Respect for the unique terroir of Margaux and applying this philosophy to wine in every unique year without the label of the wine maker represents Peynaud’s view that Pontallier has kept on honourably since Peynaud stepped aside from wine production in 1990.
The active and close co-operation between Pontallier and Mentzelopoulos has produced magnificent vintages: 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2003, and 2005. It remains to be seen how well the new generation can continue Corinne’s success in the history of the estate. It is certain that she is not stepping aside for a long time, but when she looks 50 years to the future, she says:
– Who knows what the world will be like then? I just hope my children are still around and are here managing the estate. But can things get much better for Margaux, when it already is in the minds of all wine lovers of the world? Should I keep my fingers crossed?

Soil: gravelly, clay-limestone
Production area: 82ha
Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon (at least 75%), Merlot (between 10 and 15%) and finally Petit Verdot (around 5%) and a little Cabernet Franc
Average age of vines: 36 years
Harvest method: hand picked
Winemaking: The wine is fermented in oak vats
Ageing: over 18-24 months in new French oak barrels


Château Margaux
33460 Margaux
Tél. : +33 (0) 5 57 88 83 83
Fax. : +33 (0) 5 57 88 31 32
www.chateau-margaux.com

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