Wine Workshop: Chateau Margaux

Within the world of first growths there’s always been two that I thought stood out a bit more than the others or at least that I’ve almost never had a bad experience with and sometimes even had quite great experiences with - Margaux and Haut Brion. Interesting to know that at one point the two estates were linked and it was in fact HB that helped Margaux weather a more difficult time in its history. They are of course very different - for me Margaux is best thought of as a slightly velvety red fruit style. More elegance. Perhaps more fruit primary than most of the others and more red in style. This was an interesting tasting for me though as it shows that while Margaux is almost always lovely there’s definitely different levels across the years and even really quite different styles that seem to come through.

Always nice to get a bit of a starter bubble and meet some other folks at the dinner and catch up with friends and perhaps start to switch from full out work mode to wine mode.

• NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier Brut

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  A lovely champagne with a bit more of the nutty and brioche and all of that. It’s slightly heavier in style. Drinks relatively well and certainly a good starter for an evening.

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Hay Smoked Two Week Aged Duck Breast
Cherry-miso jam, toasted pistachios, scallion-cheddar cornbread

• 1953 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Hands down wine of the night and really quite impressive all around. This is a wine I’d love to see again although I doubt there’s so many around and few that were just in this perfect spot. It was opened and poured and I savored mine throughout the meal. Even with some hours in the glass still lovely. There’s a crispness and elegance and tartness and yet great red fruits and quite bright and fresh and classic. It is perhaps why some might think of Margaux as the ‘Chambolle of Bordeaux’ if you feel that you need to relate everything to Burgundy (which these days I suppose most wine ppl do as that’s what everyone is chasing). Still, this was just perfect. While I think David did the tasting right given what he was working with it is always a bit difficult when you find that the best wine of the night is the first because everything was trying and not quite living up to this one.

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• 1955 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  ‘55 is one of those years that I don’t think gets quite enough appreciation and yet I am usually happily surprised. This sadly was not quite one of those evenings. There’s more licorice and a bit more weight to the wine as compared to the ‘53. Lacking that truly beautiful elegance that I noticed there. More black fruits. Still a very interesting wine, but for the price not sure it lives up.

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• 1959 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  I’m afraid the ‘53 almost skewed my impression of the rest of the flight. This is quite a nice wine. Darker red currants and peppery and a bit more heft to it and as a result it seemed to lack that lovely classic elegance that I saw in the first wine. So drinking nicely and certainly one I’d love to revisit again but I found myself not quite as taken.

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• 1961 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Ok - here is a wine that jumps out a bit more and while I still think I preferred the ‘53 this did split the group and there were some who were firmly in the ‘61 camp. From a magnum and you get some of that extra power plus I just expect this wine was more powerful from the start. Lots of floral, almost a hand soap note that softened a bit. Petals all over. Dragonfruit. Hints of the tropics. Darker red and a bit more depth. Lovely wine and one that seems to be going quite strong. While I wouldn’t be surprised if the ‘53 is right in drinking window now this has a long life ahead.

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• 1966 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Alas another year which for me has always been a go to given the price to quality ratio but alas I think this was perhaps not a perfect bottle (still drinkable) and in a very tough line-up and so most of what it gave was leather and cigar and all of the more secondary characteristics. I looked at an earlier note of Margaux from this vintage and the bright red fruits fully there so I wonder if this might have been a question on bottle variation versus that the wine from that year is on the download. Worth probably a check in.

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Housemade Orecchiette
Local water Buffalo Raghu, chanterelles, garlic breadcrumbs

• 1985 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Another absolute favorite of the tasting for me and a wine that I have quite enjoyed in the past. It’s again more of that pretty style. Very classic. Light raspberry and fresh and a tasty and with that beauty of an easy well aged wine that is still somewhat light on the feet but has all of the right flavors. Happy to see that we have a few left in our cellar. Quite enjoyable.

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• 1986 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Really if I were picking vintages of wines from Bordeaux I think these would have been the ones since they seem to be all of the best ones and then a lot of my favorites that seem to be growing in popularity but don’t have the same level of press. Some years ago we did a horizontal of ‘86 and I always really appreciated that one and in that I quite appreciated the Margaux. Here the wine is a bit different esp coming on the heels of the 85. I get a lot more woodsy and wood spice and maybe a touch herbal. Fruit muted. There’s a strength too to this wine. Give it more time.

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• 1989 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  During the dinner before we’d tried it I shared that this is one of my favorite vintages of this wine and I stand by it. There’s a few times we’ve had the wine and it has just blown me away. I’d say in the tough company here this was in my ‘I quite like it’ group but not in the absolute top ones (scarily enough the ‘85 actually beat it for me in the flight). Still it is quite a nice wine. Very balanced, very classic, lots of good fruit and still quite elegant and drinks very nicely.

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• 1995 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Wow - young and intense and really needs a lot more time to be ready. This is a wine that would have benefited from quite a long decant. Esp as we are coming from some of the older wines this was the first one that made one take notice that these are wines that are meant to age for many many years. Lots to like in the future.

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Salt-baked celery root, cauliflower purée, natural jus

• 1990 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Some would argue this is the best Margaux ever made and while I’m not ready to say that’s true I’d say the jury could be out on it. It has all of the stuffing of a great wine and is mostly at this point just missing the years to ease into something that is perhaps a bit less intense. It’s darker red fruits and tons of plushies and lots of intensity and you can tell there is a ton going on in the wine but at this point it’s still almost a bit primary and dominated by the red fruits. Give it a lot more time. But a lovely wine with a lot going for it.

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• 1996 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Another wine where we’re fully in the place of needing more time to come together. This is bright and classic and even a touch of bramble and I was hoping that it might be about ready but there is something that just makes it feel a hint closed or at least not as brightly open and expressive as some others. It will come around. Lots of good pieces to it.

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• 2000 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  The year that sent Bordeaux skyrocketing and yet I don’t think any of us quite know what this vintage will be in the long run. At the moment it’s more classically styled and darker and brooding but without any of the full range that I want to see in an amazing wine. Young. Give it more time.

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• 2005 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  2005 seems to be a truly mixed bag for me. At times I like it quite a bit more than the 2000 and the 2010 and at other times I feel like critics were just looking for another great vintage to herald during those times. For the Margaux though it is actually quite well done. Classic and potpourri and bright and drinking well. Again it’s way too young (we’re just at that stage of the evening) but is a nice wine with a pretty future ahead (maybe the future ‘53?)

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Toasted sourdough bread

• NV Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  From the 1965 vintage but as that wasn’t the strongest they pulled in some reserve from ‘63 and ‘64 to help round it out. Interesting to see how different this wine looked from the others. More cloudy and light and perhaps a touch more towards the brown than the red. Very interesting to try though.

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• 1982 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Ah - the problem with life = reality - expectations is when you bring such big expectations to a wine it is hard to live up. This was I think perhaps not the perfect bottle although certainly very drinkable. I get just this hint though of the vegetal to it which I wouldn’t expect from this year. Interesting. But not the plush and fine layers that some others have.

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• 1983 Château Margaux Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  I have heard many times about the enjoyment of a 1983 Margaux that many say surpasses the ‘82 and many other great wines. Alas it will have to be another day when I find out if that is true as this wine wasn’t quite on the ball.

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• 2010 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Perhaps one day this will be quite wonderful and something to behold but at this stage all I can say is it is frightfully young and big and bold and not even close to ready. All of the power of that vintage. Needs a lot more time. I hope that I am around when it comes into its own.

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• 1975 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  In the past I’ve had quite a nice experience with this wine but today it just came across as bit more old and faded and over the hill. Unfortunate but what can you do? Overshadowed by some truly lovely siblings.

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Clear winner of the evening for me was the ‘53 but I can see how folks could love the ‘61 (it was a difference between power and finesse and both were excellent wines). David took a different approach to the evening (usually we start young and go old so that my favorite wine is almost always in the last flight). Tonight we went a bit the other way and I’ll admit my favorites were all in the first flight, but it was fun to get to see how they evolved and how well they held up. Even if perhaps the 50’s was not the ‘highlight’ of Margaux’s years. Quite enjoyable and a fun evening all around. Would be remiss if I didn’t call out how well Gabriel Kreuther did with the food and Ebru with everything that surround the event. Fun times as always. A few more bonus bottles in there than originally planned as this was a very ‘agile evening’ in picking/pairing wines.