1943 Château Margaux
Community Tasting Note
misterstarre Likes this wine:
Saturday, May 18, 2019 - This wine was stunning, and the crowd favorite in a field of interesting and strong contenders. From what turned out to be a great bottle despite a low shoulder fill, significantly recessed cork, and heavy sediment. I had it upright for 5 days before drinking. Expectations were low, frankly.
In the glass, the '43 Margaux looked vibrant. Slightly bricked at the rim, but dark red in the center. Candlelight showed the wine to be almost clear and bright magenta in the core -- not a color I expected in an old bottle that should have been oxidized given all the air inside.
Wet, earthy scents dominated the nose - wet wood, forest floor, cigar box, and mushroom. On the entry, I was thrilled that the wine not only had survived, but it was great. It had spine, yet was also very elegant. This was the 43's complexity: on the one hand it was fresh and lively with plenty of acid, refined tannin, and some remaining sweet fruit of a once richer wine. On the other hand, it was mature, delicate, and, well, old. It all came together very elegantly and satisfyingly. The palate was a mature set of old bordeaux flavors: library, mushroom, duck liver, dust, mint, sweet fruit -- not the stewed fruit of riper vintages like '59 (with which I'm much more familiar than '43), but thinner, and some subtle stem or underbrush. The wine finished beautifully if not quickly with subdued iron and mushroom and a touch of graphite and mint lingering.
Certainly, the history surrounding the '43's origin during the occupation adds an intellectually stimulating dimension. The terroir here is so much more than the grapes grown at this great vineyard in this strong vintage; the history is part of the terroir, and maybe it's not fair from a pure wine criticism standpoint, but it makes the wine feel profound.
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