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  • Country ranking ?

    68
  • Producer ranking ?

    5
  • Decanting time

    3h
  • When to drink

    now to 2035
  • Food Pairing

    Pork Crown Roast

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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1982 versus 1990 Bordeaux

When you receive an invitation to a comparative tasting of all Premier Crus from the two great vintages of 1982 and 1990, you drop everything and clear your diary. 1982 and 1990 represent the beginning and end of perhaps the greatest era in the history of Bordeaux. During these nine years there were only two vintages that could be seen as disappointments: 1984 and 1987. It could rightly be stated that the period fr...

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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

The 1990 harvest lasted almost a month, as the Cabernets ripened much later than the Merlot. We even interrupted the picking for 10 days at the end of September to let the Cabernet finish ripening. Luck was on our side, as the weather was exceptionally good. 1990 was the third in a run of very fine vintages, with 1988 and 1989. After the classic 1988 and the rich, opulent 1989, the 1990 immediately caused great excitement with its charm and gr...

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Vintage 1990

Early, uniform flowering, a hot but unspectacular summer and an exceptionally hot period at the end of August 1990 and the first half of September. It was this heat that allowed the record harvest not only to fully ripen, but also to concentrate the fruit. Harvesting began on September 14 and was completed before the start of heavy rains on October 2. Another reason for the success of the vintage was that most châteaux had invested in their ce...

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Average Bottle Price

2024 2020 2017 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2005 2000
1 390€ +27.5% 1 090€ +22.1% 893€ +3.2% 865€ +14.0% 759€ +2.2% 743€ -3.9% 773€ -24.4% 1 023€ -3.9% 1 065€ +104.4% 521€ +118.9% 238€

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.

Tasting note

color

Full, Purple and Dark

ending

Long, Smooth and Extensive

flavors

Vanilla, Cherry, Blackcurrant, Earthy, Voluptuous and Cedar

nose

Intense, Refined, Complex and Fresh

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Warming, Medium tannin, Well-structured, Concentrated, Complex, Medium-bodied, Rich, Ripe, Firm and Sweet

Written Notes

The 1990 Margaux had a deep, elegant nose with a hint of cinnamon. The nose also had cassis fruit and grilled nuts and meats. Deeper and deeper the nose went, down an Alice in Wonderland hole of elegance. Rich and delicious in the mouth, the Margaux didn’t lose any of its elegance on the palate, and its smooth and satiny style set the stage for flavors of purple fruits, nuts, grapes, musk, minerals and slate. The wine smacked on its finish (95).

  • 95p

Bright ruby with a very pale rim. Quite focussed again (like the 2000 tasted alongside) – as though made slightly reductively. You have to search for the 1990 ripeness and gypsy abandon here. But it’s there, lurking under quite a tight, rigorous cloak of still-tannic fruit. The tannins are a little dry – 2003-like almost – this perhaps shows the superiority of the damper more northerly soils. Bright but a little bit jagged. Difficult to decide on an ideal drinking window for this wine when the tannins are so obvious. But after an hour the fruit rode over the tannins.  
Less than half of total production was grand vin – 55 hl/ha overall. Paul Pontallier, now the longest-serving current director of a first growth, compared this to 1985.
12.5% £850

  • 93p

The 1990 Chateau Margaux has turned into a sensational wine that eclipses both the 1988 and 1989...and then some. It has a gorgeous, ethereal bouquet with sumptuous red berry fruit, leather, camphor and licorice—it is the kind of nose in which you just immerse yourself. Is there a hint of brettanomyces here? If there is, I don't really care. The palate is soft and sensual with incredible depth. Fleshy and corpulent for Chateau Margaux, and yet surfeit with breeding and finesse, there are layers or red fruit, kirsch, sage and fig, later tobacco and cloves. I feel that this 1990 Château Margaux is at its peak and yet the harmony, the sheer swagger of this wine just wins you over. Magnificent. Drink 2016-2040.

  • 100p
1990 Chateau Margaux– it’s all here! the Margaux perfume- floral, spice and intrigue in the nose, velvet on the palate with a core of black fruit, impeccable balance and a long finish with clove notes emerging. Vibrant, sexy, almost voluptuous yet sooo elegant. Parker gives it 100 points and I must say I agree. My favorite wine of the night.
  • 100p
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Information

Origin

Margaux, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Investment potential

Very Good

Fake factory

None

Inside Information

Bordeaux Book, 4th Edition 
Jan 2003
Robert M. Parker, Jr. 100 Drink: 2003 - 2040 $679-$1399
A prototype Chateau Margaux that combines power and elegance, this wine, which seemed to be sound asleep for nearly a decade, has begun to open over the last several years. Dense ruby/purple with a developing yet compellingly ethereal bouquet of sweet black fruits, violets, smoke, camphor, and licorice, this medium to full-bodied, silky-textured wine still tastes like a 4 or 5-year-old barrel sample, but the aromatics are emerging, and the wine has thrown off that somewhat monolithic, sleepy stage it was in for nearly a decade. Despite the fact that, analytically, the acidity is low, this wine reveals plenty of delineation, very high levels of tannin, and tremendous concentration of ripe fruit, glycerin, and extract. The color shows very few signs of development. The fabulous bouquet is just emerging, and the wine is full-bodied, opulent, and very rich. It is a great achievement in this vintage, and should be drinkable in another 4-5 years and last for at least 3-4 decades. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2040. Last tasted, 10/02.
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