2012-PAVILLON-ROUGE-du-Château-Margaux

PAVILLON ROUGE

2011 du Château Margaux

Grapes Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot, Cab Sauv
Colour Red
Origin France, Bordeaux
Sub-district Haut Médoc
Village Margaux
ABV 13%

Very prettily scented and open. Fat with sweet red and black fruit. But the sweetness dominates the drive, and perhaps hides the level of tannin. Very pure but rather gets stuck in its tracks by the density of the sweetness. Rating: 90 L&S (Apr 2012)


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The 2011 Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux is one of the finest examples of this cuvee I have ever tasted. It hit 13% natural alcohol and represents only 28% of the harvest. This blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc reveals more structure than most vintages in addition to lots of dark berry fruit intermixed with hints of wood smoke, forest floor and spring flowers. Very pure with striking minerality as well as a long finish, it should drink well for two decades or more. 2012 - 2032 Rating: 91-93 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Apr 2012)

The Pavillon Rouge is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. It has a very fine, elegant bouquet with blackberry, briary, black olive and a strong mineral content. It is finely focused, but not potent. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp, tensile tannins on the entry and a core of brine-tinged black fruit. It errs towards a more masculine Pavillon than feminine, prioritizes focus over flamboyance with a tightly-wound, citric finish. This is very fine, but it will need two or three years in bottle. Rating: 89-91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2012)

Dark and damsony fruit here. Concentrated, smoky, appealing, with a good sense of freshness. The palate has a supple start, more charcoaly character in the middle, certainly more than expected from Pavillon Rouge, with a rich and gritty substance to it. A firmly composed wine, ripe fruit, with very dark and grainy character, the tannins certainly firm but not overworked. High level balance but it seems appropriate. Not green. And a rich tannic finish. Some lightly roasted fruit too, despite what Pontallier might say. Big and tannic in the finish but it seems appropriate at this stage. Rating: 15-16 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2012)

Château Margaux

1855 classification - Premier Grand Cru Classé

Margaux, originally La Mothe de Margaux, has a long history dating back to at least the 12th Century. By the 17th Century, Château Margaux was widely recognised for the quality of its wines - in 1771 it was the first wine sold by Christies, and Thomas Jefferson bought some Margaux when he was Ambassador to France. The French Revolution was a turbulent time for Margaux but, by the turn of the 19th Century, the estate was in the hands of the Basque Marquis de la Colonilla whose singular contribution was to build the château that we see today. Margaux's reputation was recognised by the 1855 classification which placed it among the elite group of Premier Grand Cru Classés.

By the 1960s, however, Margaux was trading as much on reputation as anything else and a run of poor vintages in the 1970's led Margaux to be sold. This was its salvation, for the purchaser was André Mentzelopoulos who, despite some rumblings of discontent locally at such a grand property falling into 'foreign' hands, poured in investment, replanting the vineyards, building a new underground cellar and renovating the château. Also more than renovated was Margaux's reputation as one of Bordeaux's leading estates, a reputation it now richly deserves, still under the benevolent eye of the Mentzelopoulos family. André's daughter Corinne ran the property for an astonishing 43 years, but in 2023 handed over to her son Alexis Leven-Mentzelopoulos. Corinne's daughter Alexandra Petit-Mentzelopoulos will work alongside her brother. Alexis is firmly committed to continuing the family objective of making Château Margaux one of the greatest wines in the world. The managing director is Philippe Bascaules, who took over from the much-missed Paul Pontallier in 2016.

Château Margaux is a large estate, running to 262ha, although under vine there are only 87 hectares of red and 12 hectares of white. For red wines the vines are Cabernet Sauvignon 75%, Cabernet Franc 3%, Petit Verdot 3%, Merlot 20%. Barrels are made in the château's own cooperage, the reds spending eighteen months to two years in new wood. In recent vintages the proportion of Cabernet in the Grand Vin has increased significantly.

The second wine of the estate is Pavillon Rouge de Château Margaux which has been produced since the 19th Century, making it among the longest established of such wines, and there's now a third (since 2013) and even a fourth wine.

Château Margaux also produce a very successful white wine - Pavillon Blanc de Château Margaux - 100% Sauvignon Blanc, aged in wood for six months. This is classified as AOC Bordeaux as there is no appellation for white Margaux.

Aprroximate annual production is:
Château Margaux: 120,000 bottles
Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux: 100 000 bottles.
Margaux du Château Margaux: 60 000 bottles.
Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux: 10 000 bottles.

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
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