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Of exceptional quality, the Château Margaux 1985offers aromas of fruit, along with finesse and plenty of elegance. It reveals sophisticated and complex notes. Chateau Margaux 1985 is delicateon the palate, offering tannins full of charm, which are round and silky. Its concentration is remarkable, and the wine displays a great lengthand a beautiful aromatic persistence. Its exceptional ageing potential allows it to be kept for many years to come.
The organoleptic qualities described here are only valid for the year in which this wine was tasted. Naturally, the wine is subject to evolution in the bottle throughout its life, and certain characteristics described in this commentary will no longer apply.
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
1985 is an outstanding vintage, as much in terms of quality as in quantity. It has always been very pleasant to drink, almost right from the end of the fermentation. The nose is still astonishingly fruity, fine and elegant and has become more developed and very complex. On the palate, we are first struck by the delicacy and charm of particularly round and silky tannins, but the length and finish also display a great concentration. 1985 today is one of our most appealing vintages. We can therefore drink it without any problem, but there is no rush, as it undoubtedly has the potential to get even better.(January 2011)
Weather
After a quite cool and late start to the growing season, this vintage was influenced by very advantageous ripening and harvesting conditions, especially during the months of September and October, which were very hot and dry. The leaves on the vines refused to fall until late into November. This Indian summer will be remembered a long time. (The picking began on 26th September)
Vintage 1985
After a quite cool and late start to the growing season, this vintage was influenced by very advantageous ripening and harvesting conditions, especially during the months of September and October, which were very hot and dry. The leaves on the vines refused to fall until late into November. This Indian summer will be remembered a long time. (The picking began on 26th September)
Recommended glass shape
Average Bottle Price
2024 | 2020 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2005 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
539€ +19.8% | 450€ +18.4% | 380€ +1.1% | 376€ -0.5% | 378€ +24.8% | 303€ -22.1% | 389€ +9.3% | 356€ +59.6% | 223€ |