chateau margaux

 

Château Margaux

The Château Margaux estate bears the mark of genius of Mother Nature and of the men which created the estate with her. It thrives today thanks to the efforts and the dedication in the hearts of those who work there.

 

History

The Estate

The Wines

 

paul pontallier of chateau margaux

"John is an aesthete: he appreciates great wines and loves the company of the people who like to drink them. I will long remember this group of Irish friends he came to Château Margaux with some years ago. I had thought the simple, authentic, warm atmosphere of the cooperage would be suitable for this dinner of wine lovers and men of taste. What an unforgettable evening! It seems that it fi nished quite late and that, after having tried to solve the world’s problems, we ended up singing. I still wonder if this is not the best way to talk about wine and express the happiness to drink it." - Paul Pontallier

paul pontallier

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

chateau margaux

History

Margaux is one of the most historic and celebrated estates in the whole of Bordeaux and considered to be a national treasure. The estate has changed hands many times over the centuries, passing through a who’s who of French nobility as well as the hands of powerful merchants such as the Ginestet family.

Today it is 100% owned by Corinne Mentzelopoulos, daughter of André Mentzelopoulos, the Franco-Greek supermarket magnate who purchased the estate in 1977. Amongst the many significant actions of the new regime, arguably the most important was the appointment of the brilliant Paul Pontallier as general manager.

The consistently outstanding quality of Margaux during the years of the Mentzelopoulos-Pontallier partnership is no coincidence and goes again to prove that even the greatest terroirs need to be understood and worked on by people of rare talent, passion and commitment.

 

The Estate

Margaux today has some 94 hectares of vineyard of which 12 are planted with Sauvignon Blanc.

Classified as a first growth in 1855, there have been a number of changes to the boundaries of the estate over the years but in more recent times, much of the work of Pontallier and his team has been in the vineyard, identifying the different parcels of land and understanding how best to cultivate and harvest them, rather than just looking at the estate as one large holding.

Cabernet Sauvignon remains the majority cépage and is supported by Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The average age of the vines is 35 years.

“Château Margaux does not belong to us – we belong to it.” - Corinne Mentzelopoulos

  

chateau margaux cellar

The Wines

Another significant decision of the new régime was the introduction of a second wine, Pavillon Rouge, which is now considered in its own right as one of the finest wines of the commune. Alongside it, Pavillon Blanc, made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc, is without doubt the finest white in the Médoc.

There is also a third wine made but it is never sold by the château, who prefer to sell it in bulk to the Bordeaux trade. The Grand Vin itself is the stuff of legends and the absolute epitome of the “iron fist in the velvet glove” metaphor, a wine of rare fragrance, finesse and elegance that will nonetheless happily last for several decades, even 50 years or more in the greatest vintages.

With standards of winemaking around the world ever increasing, being a standard-bearer today is no mean feat but Margaux remains, quite simply, one of the greatest wines produced anywhere in the world and the ultimate expression of this hallowed patch of the Médoc.