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News
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10/07/2005 Harvest 2005 – A dream turned into reality Our last two weeks have left us speechless… and we have to say and repeat that this vintage is progressing as if in a dream. And today, that dream has become reality: the harvesting finished this morning under the same perfectly blue sky as when we started. This extraordinarily brings the climax to a fantastic year! The very first Merlots are fermenting slowly and surely, give us the impression of something never seen before. What colour, what power! We can already guess that behind the little sugar that is left, lies their impressive and, perhaps previously unheard of, stature. |
Wine Description
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.
Wine Information
2005 is a truly great, pure Château Margaux vintage!
First of all, it has all of its class: that incomparable nose of finesse, grace and depth that belongs solely to its terroir and is only found in a few dream vintages. It also has its power: its concentration is exceptional, superior to 2000 and even 2003. It comes through first in the colour, which has unprecedented intensity, and on the palate with extraordinary density and length. And yet its power does not have the last word; voluptuousness and harmony are also the hallmarks of this vintage. The Cabernet Sauvignon (85% of the blend) is of course largely responsible for this balance, as it reached perfect ripeness without the alcoholic degree going over 13. The only Merlot which joined it (8% of the blend) is the only batch which didn’t reach 14°. Finally, beyond all these qualities and all this grace, Château Margaux has one essential virtue, which it will go on having for many more years; it is the ability to bring as much enjoyment in drinking it as in tasting it. (February 2011)
Vintage 2005
Bordeaux Vintage Report 2005 is a truly fantastic vintage with great quality across the board on both the Left and Right Banks.
The 2005 vintage became the most expected since 2000. The en primeur market was heated, and prices skyrocketed. The cold winter delayed the bud break before the hot ans dunny spring broke up. Even vegetative growth and flowering gave a perfect start to the vintage. The summer turned out to be one of the driest ever which was avoiding disaster since the weather remained reasonably warm not excessively hot as in 2003. The soil is again becoming a decisive quality factor. Gravelly areas, such as Graves, were worst affected once more. In other words, top wines are to be expected.
For short term perspective, in the next couple of years, an excellent amount of mature red Bordeaux wines will be available in the market. The vintages 2004, 2002, 1999, 1994, 1992 and 1988 offer a wide selection of enjoyable wines to be consumed immediately or at most to be stored for a short period.
As investments, the best vintages from the past 35 years are 2003, 1996, 1989, 1986 and 1982. The most certain long-term investments are Latour, La Mission Haut-Brion, Haut-Brion, Le Pin and Pétrus.
In the last 35 years, Bordeaux has undergone a substantial change in winemaking. Modern equipment and developing know-how have guaranteed more even quality. It seems that the next challenge will be handling the extreme climates including slowly global warming, which has already given hints of its effects also in Bordeaux. It is impossible to say how the Bordeaux wines will change in the next 35 years. We can only hope that their most characteristic feature, elegant aristocratic nature highlighted by unique terroir, will never fade away.
Recommended glass shape
Average Bottle Price
| 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 565€ -2.2% | 578€ -5.6% | 612€ -26.4% | 832€ +7.2% | 776€ |
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.
