2016 Château Margaux, 1er Cru Margaux

The 2016 Château Margaux represents 28% of the entire production this year. It has an alluring, gorgeous bouquet that blossoms with aeration to reveal black cherries, veins of blue fruit, crushed violet petals and a suggestion of vanilla. The poised, mineral-driven palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin and just the right amount of salinity. The 2015 Château Margaux is ahead by a nose, but this will be a formidable first growth with a five-decade life span.

A gorgeous, captivating bouquet gives the 2016 Margaux an irresistible allure. Weightless and yet wonderfully persistent, in the way only the château's wines can be, the 2016 Grand Vin is a wine of exceptional breeding and pedigree. So many wines in this vintage are obvious, but Margaux is a wine that takes time to discover, like a great book or piece of music. Shades of tobacco, cedar, mint, licorice and bright, red-toned fruit reveal themselves over time. And yet it is a sense of total harmony and seductiveness that elevates Margaux into the stratosphere in 2016.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Château Margaux (blended of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot) sashays out of the glass with glamorous red currants, candied violets, kirsch and crushed blackcurrants scents followed by notions of tilled black soil, forest floor, cast iron pan and cigar box with subtle wafts of lavender and oolong tea. Medium-bodied, mineral laced accents hover over the palate with an ethereal sensation of weightlessness, yet it is super intense with layers of red and black flavors supported by a firm texture of silt-fine tannins, finishing wonderfully fragrant and incredibly long.

Sweet rich start and then very fresh. Seems a little bit marked by oak at the moment. Sinewy. Hint of chocolate - just like Palmer! Slightly drying tannins. Sandpaper on the end.

A purity of fruit marks this Margaux with lots of currant and berry character. Full body, bright acidity and round tannins. It’s a larger and more expanded style of Margaux. A wine with a heart and body. Strong.