Chateau Margaux (1.5 Liter Magnum) 2020
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Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
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Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The final blend is very similar to those of the most recent vintages. The Grand Vin represents 36% of the harvest. There is a perfect balance between the density and the fineness of its tannins. Several factors contributed to making this a superb wine: homogenous flowering, summer conditions that favored small berries and therefore concentrated wines, and excellent harvesting conditions. Only the yield was not as we had hoped. The fertility of the grape varieties was lower than in previous years, with 1.6 bunches per shoot, compared to 2 in 2019. The average yield on the estate was therefore 36 hl/ha.
Blend: 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Gorgeous aromas of dark plums and violets. Orange peel, too. Some crushed stone. Bark. Stems. Iron shavings. Full-bodied, but very tight and compacted. The tannins are all here making it very structured, yet they are polished and melted together. Needs years to show all of its greatness. Incredible polish and structure. More structured than the 2019.
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Wine Enthusiast
The fruit, with the acidity that is a hallmark of the year, gives black currant flavors from the nearly 90% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. The tannins seem supple with a structure that leans into the fruit. It's a remarkably consistent wine, velvet while structured.
Barrel Sample: 98-100 -
Decanter
A brilliant Margaux; one that takes a sigh and then releases the huge floral, eucalyptus and crushed mint whoosh that comes in waves though the palate. You get the concentration of the vintage in an entirely positive light, with a suave softness to the tannins that makes it stand head and shoulders above many others. Plenty in common with the 1996 vintage - the knitted down tannins, the completeness, the juicy blackcurrant purity and acidity on the finish, and the certainty of long ageing. Real clarity of flavour. Alcohol level is lower than both the 2018 and 2019, but tannins and anthocyanins are at the same level as in 2018. 36% of overall harvest, and 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend.
Barrel Sample: 99 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Château Margaux is a brilliant young wine, unfurling in the glass with aromas of dark berries and cherries mingled with hints of rose petals, iris, burning embers and pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with terrific tension, beautifully refined tannins and a long, penetration finish, this is a vibrant, dynamic Margaux that stands out as the most classically proportioned wine of the 2018, 2019 and 2020 trio.Rating : 97+
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Jeb Dunnuck
As to the Grand Vin, the 2020 Chateau Margaux is 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, pulled from a tiny 36% of the total production, that spent 20 months in new barrels. It has that classic Chateau Margaux sense of elegance and complexity and offers full-bodied aromas and flavors of ripe currants, blueberries, acacia flowers, crushed stone, and sandalwood that develop with time in the glass. With remarkable purity as well as flawless balance, it's a seriously concentrated, powerful 2020 that still just glides across the palate with no hard edges, silky tannins, and a great finish. I love everything about this wine. It's going to flirt with perfection in 7-8 years and evolve for 50-75 years. It actually reminds me slightly of the 2016.
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Chateau Margaux, a Premier Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux, is one of the most famous wines in the world. Care has been lavished on the property by a line of owners with an abiding concern for the reputation of the estate.
For more than five hundred years, season after season, generations of vineyard-workers, grapeharvesters, cellar-workers, coopers and many other craftsmen have all played a part in making Chateau Margaux what it is today: a wine with an incomparable personality, reflected in the elegant Palladian building which adorns its label. In 1977, the estate was purchased by the late André Mentzelopoulos, and it is now run by his daughter, Corinne Mentzelopoulos.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Silky, seductive and polished are the words that characterize the best wines from Margaux, the most inland appellation of the Médoc on the Left Bank of Bordeaux.
Margaux’s gravel soils are the thinnest of the Médoc, making them most penetrable by vine roots—some reaching down over 23 feet for water. The best sites are said to be on gentle outcrops, or croupes, where more gravel facilitates good drainage.
The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification but it is nonetheless important in regards to history of the area. In 1855 the finest chateaux were deemed on the basis of reputation and trading price—at that time. In 1855, Chateau Margaux achieved first growth status, yet it has been Chateau Palmer (officially third growth from the 1855 classification) that has consistently outperformed others throughout the 20th century.
Chateau Margaux in top vintages is capable of producing red Cabernet Sauvignon based wines described as pure, intense, spell-binding, refined and profound with flavors and aromas of black currant, violets, roses, orange peel, black tea and incense.
Other top producers worthy of noting include Chateau Rauzan-Ségla, Lascombes, Brane-Cantenac, and d’Issan, among others.
The best wines of Margaux combine a deep ruby color with a polished structure, concentration and an unrivaled elegance.