Château Margaux 2004

Tasted blind, the 2004 Margaux struck me as classic claret, with a bouquet of currant, graphite, mint, and smoke, a supple elegance, fresh acidity, and a lingering, ethereal finish. Upon discovering its identity, I was surprised that it seemed much lighter than I remembered. Two bottles were tasted, with comparable results. The ethereal character takes nothing away from the wine’s elegance, but it did not have the power of previous outings. However, there is enough substance here to age for at least another 20 years.

Bright red-ruby. Knockout nose features boysenberry, currant, cedar, graphite and mocha. Suave, gentle and sweet, already displaying ineffable inner-mouth perfume. The 17% merlot component injects a silky component, and the oak element adds a complementary sweetness. Complex, lush, horizontal finish saturates the mouth with flavor. It was not clear to me in April that the 2006 would exceed this—and it will certainly take longer to reach full maturity in bottle.

This bottle was rocking! The finest example of this I have ever tasted. There was polish, elegance, grace and finesse in its stylings. Silky tannins, fresh, dark red fruits, espresso, spice and floral essences were all over the place. There was richness, length and sweet, ripe fruits in the polished finish. I am sure another 5 years in the bottle, if you have patience, will only add more to the wine.

Drinking beautifully, the 2004 Château Margaux (78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot) is all about elegance and finesse and has perfumed notes of sandalwood, dried flowers, and sweet red and black fruits all soaring from the glass. With medium body, a silky, seamless texture, ultra-fine tannin, and a great finish, it glides across the palate and is just a joy to drink. While it doesn’t have the weight or richness of a top vintage, it’s a beautiful expression of this estate. Drink it anytime over the coming 10-15 years.

Brightening ruby. Sweet bouquet, raspberries, wild cherries, light, almost vanilla-like toasted notes, sexy and clean. On the palate, juicy, light and playful, showing finely grained notes in the astringency and finishing relatively slender, Burgundian.

Barrel sample: concentrated, fresh-tinged berry bouquet, black cherries, tobacco, bay leaf, prunes; slender on attack yet fairly deep. A fleshy palate with meat and muscle, showing massive tannins that currently dominate the medium-weight body a bit; firm, grainy extract, a roughening tongue and demanding astringency; plum skin on the finish. In this primeur phase the wine is still completely backward and unfinished, and now needs barrel aging to develop sweetness and more flesh. It will likely turn out similar to the 1994 and thus—contrary to its own typicity—show more power and masculine traits. Certainly a wine with quite a large aging potential. If the tannins refine further by maturity, it can gain another point. 06: dark purple-ruby. Ripe dried-fruit bouquet, apt roasted notes, ripe plums. Still a bit mealy on the palate, thus showing a finely sandy flow, very long. A long-distance runner. 07: brightening ruby, sweet bouquet, raspberries, wild cherries, light, almost vanilla-like roasted notes, sexy and clean. On the palate juicy, light and playful, shows finely kerned notes in the astringency and finishes relatively slender, yet Burgundian. For the moment it’s very hard to assess it as a truly great Premier and, from its presentation, possibly to be rated lower. Long-term evolution will likely wrestle it back to its potential score. It still has several years for that. 08: fascinating perfume, a hint of dried fruit, plums and spicy Cabernet. On the palate both velvety and meaty, leaning toward classicism and, since the barrel samples, it has rather gained. (18/20). 15: lightening wine-red, more ruby than garnet. Intense bouquet, plenty of noble wood notes, Dominican tobacco, fine raisin contours, wonderful, dreamy herbal nuances rise in the background, showing the first terroir reflections on the nose. On the palate ample, dense, both meaty and substantial. It has plenty of backbone and needs many more years to reach optimal drinking maturity. One can/could begin in about four years—if one has it. It will probably never become truly very fine, so it’s a slightly less noble version of the similar 1994.

Dense, deep, fresh, elegant, complex bouquet: cassis, wild strawberries, cedar, currants. Tightly knit, elegant, multi‑layered palate with dense, dark, diverse aromatics, plenty of fine tannins, and a very long, dense, full finish with lots of lingering aromas. 19/20 drink - 2045

Admirable aromatic purity; a very elegant wine, precise in its texture, with supportive tannins and an incomparable purity of terroir expression. It will console those who cannot afford the 2005.

This Margaux 2004 is in great shape. Intensely fruity, marked by notes of blackcurrant and cherry. Lots of harmony on the palate with perfectly integrated tannins, in complete symbiosis with the acidic structure. A balanced, seductive and persistent Margaux.

Logo on the cork: upside-down T (Trescases) Dark color of normal intensity, and quite evolved for this bottle. The nose is a bit discreet, developing fruity and toasty notes in the glass. Smooth on the attack, the wine caresses the palate, glides along, then gains structure between the mid-palate and the finish. It lingers with toasty, oaky notes as I have never seen before. A bottle below the other 26 tasted over the past 6 months, without ever encountering any pitfall!

If one of 2004's enduring characteristics is its freshness, then Margaux epitomizes this. It is so deliciously fresh and floating, with great black currant and blueberry fruits, pointed up by spice, mint and a sense of elegance and poise. There's no doubt about its aging potential either: just feel that heart of firm tannins.

The supple-textured 2004 Chateau Margaux is reminiscent of the 2001 or 1999. It exhibits a superb blue/purple color to the rim as well as sweet aromas of flowers, blueberries, crème de cassis, licorice, and smoke, superb fruit intensity, medium body, classic elegance, and silky, sweet tannins on the long finish. This beauty can be drunk now or cellared for two decades or more.