Chateau Margaux 2020

The 2020 Château Margaux is composed of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, accounting for 36% of the harvest. The alcohol weighs in at 13.5%, the IPT is 80 and the pH is 3.67. Displaying an opaque purple-black color, it needs a lot of air, time and patience to coax out the youthfully reticent nose of blueberry preserves, blackcurrant pastilles and Black Forest cake, followed by suggestions of lavender, clove oil, iron ore and menthol with wafts of star anise and candied violets. The medium to full-bodied palate is wonderfully opulent, featuring tightly wound yet beautifully pure layers of black fruits and earthy nuances within a solid structure of firm yet velvety tannins and exhilarating freshness, finishing with very long-lingering earth and mineral notes.

Château Margaux is a First Growth (Premier Grand Cru Classe) of the 1855 Imperial Classification. The 2003 Château Margaux is made in a style that almost mirrors Lafite Rothschild in 2003. The wine has taken on even more opulence and seductiveness in an almost atypical but still fragrant, elegant, classic Chateau Margaux personality. Dense ruby-purple to the rim with an extraordinary floral nose intermixed with blackberries, cassis, mineral, licorice, and some vanilla, the wine is dense, opulent, voluptuously textured, with wonderful sweetness (reminiscent of 1982 and 1990 in that sense), low acidity, but tremendous concentration and almost seamless integration of all components - alcohol, tannin, new wood, and acidity. This is truly sumptuous stuff that should drink reasonably well young after 4 or 5 years in the bottle and age for 30+ years.