Chateau Margaux Pavillon Rouge 2020
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Pavillon Rouge represents 31% of the harvest. Even though their selection criteria was as strict as for previous vintages, the percentage of Pavillon Rouge is slightly higher this year thanks to the consistency of quality conducive to great vintages. Besides this year’s climatic conditions, they hope that this increased quality is also the fruit of their efforts in the parcels whose quality approaches that of the Grand Vin.
Blend: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Subtle and attractive aromas of blackcurrants and flowers with hints of spices. Black truffles as well. Medium to full body, with fine tannins that are nicely integrated and racy. Succulent at the end. Umami, too.
-
Wine Enthusiast
The second wine of Château Margaux is beautiful, smoky with acidity that is intense and yet integrated with the perfumed fruits. The wine's freshness is very much a product of the vintage, giving the tannins a fine lift. Of course the wine will age.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Jeb Dunnuck
As to the reds, the 2020 Chateau Margaux Pavillon Rouge is classic Chateau Margaux with its finesse, elegance, and purity. A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot aged in 50% new French oak, it has a great perfume of cassis and darker cherries as well as notes of dried flowers, sandalwood, and graphite. Beautifully balanced, layered, and concentrated, it's a gem of a second wine with plenty of Grand Vin character. It will benefit from just a few years of bottle age and keep for two decades.
-
Decanter
Liquorice and aniseed tinged blackcurrants on the nose, very medicinal, deep, heady, perfumed too but softly scented, more savoury and spiced. Smooth and supple, fully tannic - they coat the mouth but seamlessly still leaving the vibrant, lively, forward and upfront fruit to shine. So much energy, crisp and crunchy dark fruit - blackcurrant, black cherry, raspberry and plum. A sense of heat enters on the finish with liquorice and clove coming through reminding you this is a serious wine with plenty of ageing potential. Excellent length and sense of classicism - a totally moreish Pavillon. 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Pavillon Rouge is excellent, offering up aromas of raspberries and dark berries mingled with hints of cedar and rose petals, followed by a medium to full-bodied, vibrant palate with excellent depth and tension, concluding with a long, chalky finish. It's more tightly wound than the exceedingly demonstrative 2019, though in the fullness of time, it wouldn't surprise me if it ended up being just as good. Best After 2027 Rating : 93+
Other Vintages
2022-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine - Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine - Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred -
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert
-
Wong
Wilfred
-
Spectator
Wine
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.