1959 | Chateau Margaux | Margaux

Detailed Description

Superbly balanced, with lovely, elegant fruit flavors. Quite succulent in style.

Reviews:

• Vinous: The 1959 Château Margaux is the third or fourth bottle that I have encountered. This particular example comes across a little richer and as such, does not quite deliver the same precision. There is plenty of quite precocious, almost glossy red fruit, maraschino cherries and wild strawberry, interlaced by rose petal and iris scents. The palate is medium-bodied and just a little drier than previous bottles, yet I admire its Burgundy-like purity. It feels smooth and refined on the cedar-tinged finish. Delightful, although I know from first-hand experience that it can be better.

• James Suckling: Superbly balanced, with lovely, elegant fruit flavors. Quite succulent in style. Medium ruby-garnet, with an elegant, earthy strawberry aroma, balanced fruit and medium tannins.

Producer Information

Château Margaux is one of Bordeaux’s most famous wine estates, located just east of Margaux itself in the Médoc. Along with Lafite, Latour and Haut-Brion, it was rated as a first growth in the original 1855 Bordeaux Classification of the Médoc. Generally, Margaux is considered as the most elegant of the first growths, and is consistently one of the most expensive wines in the world. The Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend is complimented with small portions of Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Château Margaux’s vineyards have a complex combination of soils that are unique to the area. These consist of chalky clay under a top layer of coarse and fine gravels, which is well-suited to Cabernet Sauvignon, which accounts for around 75 percent of plantings. Merlot makes up a further 20 percent, with the rest planted to Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. As is typical for top Bordeaux estates, the vineyard is densely planted at 10,000 vines per hectare. There are also 12 hectares (30 acres) of Sauvignon Blanc to make Margaux’s white offering, Pavillon Blanc, which must be sold as Bordeaux AOP, not Margaux. This compliments the Pavillon Rouge the second wine of which production dates back to the beginning of the 16th Century.