Description: With an intense, lifted, floral perfume and a succulent palate of mulberries, blackcurrant and fruitcake spice this is massively concentrated whilst somehow managing to feel very understated. The tannins are of the highest level ever recorded at Margaux but skip lightly across the palate and then just melt away. With its elegant minerality, sweet ripe fruit and extraordinary length, this is a truly lovely wine.
Robert Parker: Wine Advocate # 188. Apr 2010. Reviewer : Robert Parker. Thirty-five percent of the crop went into the 2009 Chateau Margaux, composed of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The alcohol level of 13.3% is high, but not excessively so. A wine such as this is like the quintessence of terroir. A super, uber-concentrated perfume of creme de cassis and flowers cascades across the palate with a lightness of being despite massive concentration, a sumptuous personality, and an unctuous texture. I have never tasted a Chateau Margaux quite like this. It should be relatively drinkable at an early age, yet will last for 50-100 years. Oh my! (Tasted once.) Drink: 2010 - 2110.
Jancis Robinson: Published : 07-Apr-2010. Very dark crimson. Sumptuous nose – just gorgeous. So fine, so ripe but with lovely freshness too. Margaux finesse. Truly a wonderful nose. The nose is really the thing already. Will it ever be difficult to drink? Breadth across the palate. Just wonderfully relaxed and fresh and beautifully balanced. Soft tannins on the finish, very very long. We debate whether the texture is cashmere or silk. When to drink : 2018 to 2035.
Wine Spectator: Updated: April 15, 2010. The nose is so intensely fruity, but subtle and reserved at the same time. Fascinating. Full-bodied, yet superrefined, building on the palate. It's like watching a long-distance runner starting off slowly but continuing along his or her path. Fine and dense tannins. A few minutes in the glass and the massive tannins show. Muscular and subdued. —J.S.
Stephen Tanzer: May/Jun 10. By Ian D'Agata. (A blend of 87% cabernet sauvignon, 9% merlot, 2% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot; pH 3.79; 13.3% alcohol; represents a stringent 36% selection) Good full ruby-red. Pure, ripe aromas of cassis, graphite and cedar, lifted by floral and mineral high notes. Dense and amazingly concentrated yet light on its feet, with compelling, extremely pure flavors of spicy blackcurrant, tobacco leaf and minerals. The extremely long, slow-building and wonderfully fine-grained finish offers an exhilarating combination of power and sweetness. This comes across as quite backward today yet is anything but austere. A real essence of Margaux's great terroir, and one of my favorite wines of the vintage. As I walked to the parking lot with Pontallier after the tasting, he said to me, "If people don't think this is one of the greatest wines I have ever made, then it means I haven't really understood anything in the last 30 years spent making wine."
Decanter: Steven Spurrier, Decanter.com, 20 pts - "(87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot) Fine black red, quite magical bouquet, pure quality of cashmere silkiness on the palate with a touch of fragrance from Cabernet Franc, blending softness of attack with pure density. A wine of stunning fragrance and purity, the most perfect expression imaginable of the greatest of Margaux vineyards. Drink 2016-40."
Chris Kissack, thewinedoctor.com, 18.5-19.5+/20pts- "Cabernet Sauvignon 87%, 9% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, this is 36% of the harvest. Alcohol 13.3%, restrained for the vintage. A glossy, darker wine, with a cherry-blue rim. A slightly darker fruit style than Pavillon too, sweet and rounded, less crystalline but more polished. Notes of damson and plum. A remarkable entry, well-defined creaminess, building and building in the midpalate, pouring out fruit elements in a supple and seductive fashion. What makes it so seductive is the tannin profile, ripe and gently honed, sweet and totally in keeping with the rest of the wine. And yet, with all this supple fruit and creamy dark tannin there is acidity too. The finish is poised, fine, and very, very long, with rolling raspberry fruit. What a superb wine, flattering from the nose and right through the midpalate to the finish. Its soft appeal makes this delicious now, never mind in 20 years time - with which it should cope with ease. Certainly one of the greatest and most elegant young wines from Margaux I have tasted. "
Neal Martin, erobertparker.com, 96-98pts - "Tasted at the chateau. Sample taken 22nd March. A blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc, close to the average proportions of the last 10 years. The final alcohol comes in at 13.2-13.3%. An extremely alluring bouquet: blackberry, cassis and violets, your quintessential Margaux really, but cloaked in a sense of sensuality and sumptuousness that is rarely seen. Very fine definition with touches of cold limestone coming through. The palate is brilliantly poised with filigree tannins, breathtaking delineation and focus. There is immense intensity here, the energy of the channel with a crisp, taut finish. Wonderful length. Tasted March 2010."
Tim Atkin, www.timatkin.com, 98 pts - "Paul Pontallier calls this one of the “densest wines, but also the sweetest” he has ever made. Even if it falls slightly short of Lafite and Latour, it’s still a great wine. Very aromatic and alluring, this has cherry and redcurrant fruit, a touch of bramble, well-integrated oak, assertive tannins and lively, refreshing, palatecleansing acidity. 20+ years."
Vinification: The wines are fermented in oak vats.. the wine is then run off into vats or barrels. The red wines see up to two years maturation in oak, the whites up to six months.
