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  • Country ranking ?

    652
  • Producer ranking ?

    26
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Pork Tenderloin Wrapped with Pancetta

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 tannic concentration may be exceptional, it’s rare to detect astringency.  

The great vintages are distinguished by their formidable ability to move us. The lesser vintages give pleasure to wise enthusiasts. They offer the advantage of evolving very rapidly and, reveal, after a few years, instead of power, this subtlety that is the prerogative of great terroirs.  Château Margaux has an extraordinary ability to evolve. Over the years, it has developed a finesse, an aromatic complexity and a remarkable presence on the palate.

 

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.

The estate has 200 acres under vine. Each plot and each variety are treated differently from pruning throughout the growing season. Chateau Margaux’ goal is to nurture and maintain vines for as long as possible, as they believe vines need to reach 20 years of age to produce great wine. The estate is constantly trying to understand through experimentation how to improve soil health and fruit quality. Today, no insecticides are used, there is an important balance of healthy insects to counter pests, and any number of experiments with ploughing, organic farming, and biodynamic applications are ongoing. A final key point to note, Margaux has for the last 30+ years had among the lowest yields in the Medoc.

The wine was aged for 15 months, in 10% new oak and 90% second use barrels. Because of the particularities of the vintage, Cabernet Sauvignon made up an extremely high 88% of the blend, with Merlot only 12% of the blend. Importantly, the wine is held in bottle until ready to drink, which may not mean that vintages are released sequentially.

 

 

 

 

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Wine Information

1995/

1995 is a true great vintage with all the hallmark characteristics: power, depth, richness, complexity, but also delicacy, subtlety and harmony. In its density, it follows the style of 1986; its elegance and charm recall the 1990. Could this be an ideal combination? This wine will be long-ageing and is sure to improve, so it would be a pity to drink it now. And yet... the nose is so rich, the fruit so powerful, the tannins so soft despite their density, that we hesitate to recommend against indulging our desire to drink it now! (May 2011)



Château Margaux

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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Vintage 1995

Bordeaux / An excellent year for both sides of the Gironde and just the vintage that Bordeaux needed after the rain affected vintages of the previous 4 years. A mild winter and early spring was followed by a dry, hot summer. It did rain in early September but the rain was less than in the previous 4 vintages and, crucially, there was perfect weather from September 20th through to October.

Quality is high across all levels and appellations, with the Merlot-dominated wines of St-Emilion andPomerol being particularly successful. The best wines are very ripe and display good concentration and structure.

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Average Bottle Price

2016 2015 2013 2010
740€ +13.8% 650€ +10.9% 586€ +30.5% 449€

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

ending

Long

flavors

Toasty, Blackcurrant, Coffee and Mineral

nose

Intense, Pure, Complex and Refined

recommend

Yes

taste

Concentrated, Well-Integrated, Complex, Medium-bodied and Firm

Written Notes

A very good year in the Bordeaux Left Bank. Mild winter and spring with substantial rains were followed by an early vegetative growth and beautiful weather conditions during the flowering. The summer was hot and extremely dry, in fact the driest in 20 years. 
These fine looking bottles were decanted for two hours. Moderately intense, ruby garnet colour. Very sophisticated and promising restrained nose. A seductive touch of roasted coffee and toastiness. The palate reveals real class and plenty of density. Medium-bodied palate has subtle structure. Aristocratic acidity and minerality with restrained but concentrated ripe fruitiness of blackcurrants with black olive tones. The structure is completed by dense and firm tannins. Well-integrated delicate toasty oak flavours take hold on the palate with a long finish. Truly subtle and classy wine drinking well already now but will improve during the next ten years. 

 

  • 96p
The 1995 Margaux was impressive. Gil noticed ‘grilled Gruyere cheese and green bean puree.’ I got the Gruyere, but not the green beans, as cinnamon jumped out at me first. Gil also admired its ‘chalky, dusty’ personality, also finding it ‘tight.’ After cinnamon, chocolate took over, and then sawdust took over from there. The palate was spicy and very gritty with lots of minerals. The thickness of its tannins was clearly in another league than anything prior. It was also rusty like 1995s can be, cedary and edgy yet lean and cut like an Olympic athlete. It was very dry and long, and this might get even better in the future. As Paul eloquently summed it up, ‘the finish is like an unfinished story, a great work in progress’.
  • 96p

This still broods seriously, with dark plum, currant and blackberry fruit, studded with charcoal, singed tobacco and cedar notes and backed by a serious grip of roasted earth. The gorgeously long finish is driven by old-school tannins, with the smoldering edge going on and on. A brick house of a Margaux, with more charcoal than graphite, more austerity than elegance and more power than refinement. Drink now through 2034. 18,000 cases made” – James Molesworth, Wine Spectator 97p (Dec 2013)

  • 97p
Ruby, garnet rim. Floral, violets, cassis, tobacco, cigars, showing some tiny development, anise, very complex. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, mouthwatering, pure and gorgeously put together, absolutely superb, seductive and very long finish. I would wait another ten years.
  • 95p
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Information

Origin

Margaux, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Average

Fake factory

None
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