Château Margaux 2020

Combines charm and delicacy with utmost freshness, breed, and structure with generosity, all in a unique balance; remarkably precise; a textbook Margaux on a par with the best wines ever produced here.

Cool and confident, an effortless Margaux that’s a clear success in 2020. Vivid colour in the glass with a delicately perfumed nose. Smooth and graceful on the palate, silky yet rich too, deepening in layers, much more vertical than wide at this point but with clear concentration. It expands slowly but surely, really taking its time before the juicy, chewy, succulent blackcurrant, liquorice, clove, sweet spice and cooling menthol touches come forward. Nuanced and detailed with precision and clarity to the taste and overall sensation. A Margaux for the ages.

89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc. 36% of the production. Cask sample. Gorgeous wine that is both classic and expressive. Aromatically complex with floral, mineral and dark-fruit notes. Quality of tannins superb from entry to finish, the texture smooth and velvety. Lovely freshness, poise and length. Perfect pitch. Definitely has the edge on 2019 and 2018. (JL)

The 2020 Margaux Grand Vin is ravishing. At once refined and exuberant, Margaux beautifully captures the spirit of the vintage. Layers of dark fruit, spice, lavender, crushed flowers and leather open graciously, revealing a wine of uncommon depth and finesse. The 100% new oak is not at all perceptible. Enveloping on the palate, with striking resonance and exceptional balance, the 2020 is very clearly a great modern Margaux. It's a brilliant effort from Margaux and the team led by Managing Director Philippe Bascaules.

It is the elegance of the wine, the silkiness of the tannins, and the purity of the fruit that shape this wine’s character. On the palate, you find layers of sweet, refined cherries, red plums, and black raspberries that taste as if they were picked at the perfect moment and enjoyed in the vineyard. Texturally, the wine is incredible. The fruit is velvety, creamy, fresh, long, and rich. Everything is in balance and harmony. The finish is seamless, giving you a wine that is effortless to taste. The wine is a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, and 1% Cabernet Franc, 13.5% ABV, pH 3.68. Drink from 2030–2060.

Dark ruby garnet, purple reflections, deep core, delicate rim brightening. Sweet cherry fruit, hints of rose petals, fine ripe plum fruit, hints of vanilla and orange zest, some nougat, very inviting and seductive nose. Juicy, elegant, delicate cassis, fresh cherries, very purist, silky, fine tannins, fresh and lively, full of charm and harmony, lingers long, a delicate wine with very good length. (2025-2060).

Refined, floral and superbly elegant with violet notes, plenty of crushed berries, cassis, black truffle, fine tobacco and discreet wood notes underneath. Excellent grip and structure on the palate, really mouth-filling without heaviness, refined texture with powdery cocoa-like tannins, great volume with layers of supple dark fruit, packed with freshness, there’s excellent purity and nuance followed by a tremendously long and lingering finish. Great combo of freshness and power in Margaux’s classically elegant style, not immensely bold but extremely fit, all muscle and no fat.

Complex bouquet, Dominican tobacco, refined cassis spice and Tasmanian mountain pepper. On the second nose, graphite and red currant drops. On the sublime palate, silky texture, fine-grained extract, a tightly knit, cocoa-like tannic framework, perfectly shaped body. In the concentrated, slightly introverted finish, small black berries, wild cherry, dark minerality. Great Margaux cinema – impressively repeats the en primeur result! A brilliant Margaux with an absolutely dreamlike score.

This has grip and poise, edging forward with slate-textured tannins, not giving too much away at first, but sit with it, because the future brilliance of this Margaux is there to be seen if you take your time. It shows a seriousness of intent that sets it apart in expression from vintages like 2018, and has dense, powerful red and black fruits along with supple, plentiful tannins that have no intention of relinquishing their hold for decades to come. Gingerbread, liquorice root, grilled sandalwood, red pepper, mint leaf and peony flowers add waves of complexity as it widens and softens through the mid-palate, along with raspberry purée and edges of pastry cream. A Margaux for the ages. 100% new oak, 36 hl/ha yield after the dry summer.

The 2020 Chateau Margaux is deep garnet-purple in color. After a couple of swirls, notes of blackcurrant pastilles, redcurrant jelly, and juicy black plums soar from the glass, leading to underlying hints of dark chocolate, candied violets, cast-iron pan, and forest floor. The medium-bodied palate is satiny smooth, vibrant, and energetic, revealing floral, mineral, and black fruit layers, finishing very long and shimmering. Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for 89% of the blend, completed by 8% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, and 1% Cabernet Franc.

97-98

An exquisitely refined nose, like a huge bouquet of tulips in every color. Very fine blue-fruit notes and precious woods display a subtle nobility. A delicious vein of freshness delicately wafts toward the nose. On the palate, the wine is very pure, clean, and tender. It’s not the most exuberant of the vintage, but it carries serene confidence and a power that builds crescendo, bringing more shape and structure, with a touch of richness. These elements evolve endlessly in the glass, their intensity in constant flux. The chocolatey, finely grained finish is subtle and delicious.

Château Margaux 2020 is very measured in the way it reveals and defines itself. Imagine a series of components appearing in a coordinated fashion, careful not to overshadow or erase one another. The aromatic finesse translates perfectly on the palate from the very first attack, where it shines with roundness, breadth and tenderness, embodied by supple, velvety tannins. This is just the opening, as it clearly has more to give—and this becomes obvious as the palate unfolds. The tannins assert themselves on the finish and are ideally supported, or completed, by a structuring, finely honed acidity working behind the scenes. It tends to be somewhat underestimated, as are the tannins, yet in the end the whole supports the finish convincingly and authoritatively. A truly great Château Margaux that will require patient cellaring. And since Pavillon Rouge will also need time, Pavillon Blanc will remain for plenty of pleasure—and to quench a little thirst!

The nose is racy, fine, fruity, and offers power (with finesse and fullness), very fine richness and grain, airy power, freshness, precision, and a lovely depth and breadth to the aromatic palette. It reveals notes of vibrant Boysenberry, pulpy blackcurrant and, more lightly, cornflower, violet, and strawberry, with touches of Bourbon vanilla, lilac, saffron, star anise, as well as discreet hints of black tea and a subtle hint of hazelnut. The palate is fruity, elegant, delicate, powerful, beautifully defined, and offers depth, fine precision, delicate tension, subtle/refined richness, control, fullness, harmony, sapidity, energy, as well as silkiness and an airy balance. Lovely mid-palate with a multi-layered feel. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of pulpy/juicy blackberry, vibrant raspberry and, more lightly, vibrant blackcurrant, combined with touches of bright small red berries, hints of pulpy/juicy blueberry, cornflower/lily, star anise, as well as discreet hints of tonka bean, chocolate, toasted hazelnut, and a subtle hint of black tea. The tannins are elegant, supple, and polished. An imperceptible hint of almost Bourbon vanilla pod, white flowers, and toastiness appears on the finish/persistence. Very long persistence. A wine filled with classicism in its noblest sense. Congratulations!

This is a big wine, smoky and rich. With a higher proportion of Petit Verdot than in the past, it offers complexity and bold black fruits. The wine is structured while always ripe and generous. Drink this magnificent wine from 2028.