x
  • Country ranking ?

    1 026
  • Producer ranking ?

    51
  • Decanting time

    4h
  • When to drink

    from 2018
  • Food Pairing

    Roast Duck Breast with Dried Cherry Sauc

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The « en primeur » week officially begins today. Nearly 1500 professionals, from all over the world, will taste the 2013 vintage. This vintage saw the light of day under complicated conditions and we knew from the outset that it wouldn’t be plentiful. It’s in the difficult vintages, one way or another, that the very great terroirs reveal their incredible supremacy. That rule remains true for 2013 but we don’t really know why. Whatever it may be, all the great cabernet plots, without exception, have produced very good wines, so clearly above all the others that the blending of the Château Margaux turned out to be easy to decide (38% of the harvest). The proportions of the grape varieties however, are unusual (94% Cabernet Sauvignon – being the largest proportion ever reached, 5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot and…no Merlot whatsoever. So Château Margaux 2013 is a wine dominated by Cabernet, but with a balance and softness that are otherwise characteristic of Merlot.

 

Blending decisions for the Pavillon Rouge were severe: It only consists of 21% of the harvest and is the lowest quantity of Pavillon Rouge ever produced. However, at the cost of this unprecedented selection, Pavillon Rouge 2013 has attained a surprising quality and without doubt, fifteen years ago, it would have been included in the blending for the first wine. Pavillon Blanc 2013 has benefited from the great changes made to the vinification over the last five years. It’s probably as great a success as 2011 and 2012, but with a slightly lower quantity (less than 40% of the harvest). The « en primeur » tastings will take place for the first time this year in Château Margaux’s orangery, which holds a story that has been inscribed in the estate’s history. It was an emotional moment when, in 2010 we discovered the presence of vast apertures characteristic of orangeries. The original building, which would have served as a wine store for the barrels, dated from the XVIII century. Once the secrets had been discovered, it was decided to renovate this building as authentically as possible so that Château Margaux could recover its orangery.

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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

It’s in the difficult vintages that the very great terroirs reveal their incredible supremacy one way or another. This rule remains true for 2013, but we don’t exactly know why. Precocity is one of the reasons: our best Cabernet plots – among the earliest in the Médoc – had already reached a very good level of ripeness before the hasty harvest, and it came close, within four or five days, to reaching excellency. The other reasons remain, and will remain, unclear for a long time yet; the genius of great terroirs is difficult to fathom. 
Whatever it is, all the large Cabernet plots have , without exception, produced magnificent wines, so clearly above all the others that the Château Margaux blending was, in fact, easy to decide. It consists of 38% of the harvest, a very classic figure. However, the proportions of the grape varieties are unusual: 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, the largest proportion ever; 5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot and… no Merlot at all. Even our best plot, which we had the luxury of harvesting with great care, turned out to be disappointing.
So we can expect a wine dominated by Cabernet: it is indeed, but not the way in which we would have thought. When ripe enough, Margaux Cabernets have a balance and softness that are otherwise characteristic of Merlot; and of course this charm and finesse belong only to their terroir.
Château Margaux 2013 cannot claim to be a great vintage: we know very well that it was born under difficult conditions. But we are immensely privileged to have produced it at the beginning of the 21st century when all the care and attention, all the sacrifices, are possible; this wine justifies all of these efforts

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Vintage 2013

BORDEAUX 2013 VINTAGE REPORT

The 2013 vintage in Bordeaux was one of the most difficult since 1965 and 1968. Thomas Duroux of Château Palmer describes it as “the most complicated vintage in 20 years”. It rained almost continuously in the spring. Flowering was uneven, leading to poor set, millerandage and coulure. The threat of mold was alleviated by the arrival of warm, dry weather during the summer. For a while, winemakers hoped that abundant sunshine and mild weather would allow the vines to catch up. Severe storms, winds and intermittent heavy rains in July and August hampered vine growth and created fruiting difficulties. High humidity and cool temperatures before harvest led to slow ripening and the ideal environment for botrytis (gray rot) infection. Merlot did not perform well on the left bank. Château Margaux was certainly vulnerable to these conditions, but others, in their efforts to talk about the vintage, displayed superb Gallic denial. You would be forgiven for thinking this could be an exceptional vintage; Such is the genius of the world's best professional liars.

 

In years past, weather conditions, uneven ripening and disease pressure would have resulted in disastrous wines. Château Margaux avoided the worst rains by bringing in a picking team of 300 people to harvest the crop at lightning speed. Chateau Lafite also raced against the elements and won. Most castles don't have this type of luxury. The sorting tables were “drilled” during the harvest, allowing the best berries to be selected. I don't remember seeing red wine with visible botrytis characters. The fruit, however, has generally not ripened to optimal levels. Many producers have found it necessary to chaptalize their vinification to allow the wine to reach a more attractive alcohol level. Some châteaux, including Cos d’Estournel at 12.7% alc, produced their wines apparently without adding sugar. Most areas, however, have struggled to reach phenolic maturity. Tannins are the fabric of all red wines. They don't need to be perfectly ripe; An “al-dente” texture can provide convincing freshness and an attractive structure. But it was easy to extract too much in 2013. The best wines were those that were “unpushed” and intuitive to the conditions of the vintage. The use of saignée (juice runoff), reverse osmosis, and other methods to concentrate wine, is never discussed by winemakers, but there were some wines with soupy textures and a silky feel. unnatural mouth.

 

Many 2013 primeur wines have only been in barrel for a few weeks. This creates challenges because oak characters can detract from the inherent quality of young wines. Many châteaux will undoubtedly adjust their oak maturation philosophies to match the character of the vintage. Others will use oak as a cosmetic or construction bog to make up for structural inadequacies in their wine. Acidity is also strongly present in the wines this year. This element is essential for the freshness, tension and lifespan of any vintage. In more mature years, acidity tends to play second fiddle, but in 2013, it's first fiddle. Fruit character, perhaps the most important characteristic of any wine, inevitably varies by subregion and vineyard. The best wines of this vintage have the aromatic quality, persistence and depth of good vintages. Ultimately, the most triumphant red wines are proportional to the commitment and financial resources of the wine producer.

 

Although Merlot struggled in the Médoc, it performed well on the Right Bank. The Pomerol was relatively resplendent with generous fruit and tannin backbones that were riper than elsewhere. St Emilion was also capable of making good wine, but as usual the results were mixed. The reds from Pessac Léognan were muscular and rustic, while the whites were mineral and fresh with strong acidities. Many think that dry whites are excellent. For most Australians, these wines don't really offer value. There were some good Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant red wines made in the Médoc. However, no subregion prevailed. If anything I preferred Pauillac, especially Château Grand Puy Lacoste and Château Batailley.

The humidity which hampered the 2013 harvest in the Médoc and elsewhere worked in favor of the producers of Sauternes and Barsac. There was a “widespread proliferation” of botrytis cinerea (noble rot) during Bordeaux’s wet autumn. The wines range from magnificent to standard in quality. The best ones have beautiful honey, barley water complexity, understated richness and viscosity, and fresh acidity. Château d’Yquem is remarkably good. The biodynamic Château Climens is a beautiful, expressive wine. Every year, I taste it in barrels and in pieces. I can imagine the final blend and it will not disappoint.

 

The 20% drop in Australian dollar to euro exchange rates over the past year will make the 2013 more expensive than the best vintages 2012 and 2011. Unfortunately, this will have a significant impact on market opportunities in Australia . It is unlikely that the castle owners will lower their prices enough to make this campaign worthwhile. Falling demand from China and a full pipeline to other markets will lead to sluggish sales across the world. Although this year's primeur campaign will test the resilience of the traditional Bordeaux wine trade, there is still an impressive level of optimism. I think everyone is looking forward to moving on after the 2013 vintage. On the other hand, it's the type of vintage, with a hint of bottle age, that could re-emerge in a more favorable light in a few years.

by ANDREW CAILLARD MW

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

Whatever it is, all the large Cabernet plots have , without exception, produced magnificent wines, so clearly above all the others that the Château Margaux blending was, in fact, easy to decide. It consists of 38% of the harvest, a very classic figure. However, the proportions of the grape varieties are unusual: 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, the largest proportion ever; 5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot and… no Merlot at all. Even our best plot, which we had the luxury of harvesting with great care, turned out to be disappointing.
So we can expect a wine dominated by Cabernet: it is indeed, but not the way in which we would have thought. When ripe enough, Margaux Cabernets have a balance and softness that are otherwise characteristic of Merlot; and of course this charm and finesse belong only to their terroir.
Château Margaux 2013 cannot claim to be a great vintage: we know very well that it was born under difficult conditions. But we are immensely privileged to have produced it at the beginning of the 21st century when all the care and attention, all the sacrifices, are possible; this wine justifies all of these efforts. (October 2018)

2013 Margaux (barrel sample) 93p

Tasted twice - last time in April 2014. Consistent notes. This wine is 100% C.Sauvignon was lighter than usual with smooth, silky tannin, soft fruit, polished texture. Normally, Grand Vin contains Merlot, but winemaking stuff didn't value the Merlot parcel in question to have quality worth putting it in Grand Vin. It went instead into Pavillon Rouge. So my rating is more based on reputation than on actual appearance, because I think Margaux with put on weight when in bottle.

  • 93p
Deep purple red with violet hue and almost black centre. Initially closed character, opens up towards pure fruit, blackcurrants but also florale notes. Hints of vanilla and mild spices. Very elegant on the palate, rather good weight and excellent, persistant length, discreet florale notes, a lot of finesse in an almost burgundian style.
  • 96p
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Information

Origin

Margaux, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Above Average

Value For Money

Good

Investment potential

No Potential

Fake factory

None

Inside Information

A Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated wine that reflects the vintage, the 2013 Chateau Margaux is a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. For the first time, there is no Merlot in the blend. Moreover, only 38% of the crop made it into Margaux, a finesse-styled, classic effort offering notes of spring flowers, blue and red fruits, decent acidity, sweet tannin, and a lovely, round, medium-bodied mouthfeel. The 2013 is not as concentrated as a great vintage, nor does it have the power and length of a top year, but it is a well-made, charming red to enjoy during its first 10-12 years of life.

 

Wine Advocate #214
Aug 2014
Robert M. Parker, Jr. (88-90) Drink: 2014 - 2026 $291-$424
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