Château Margaux has produced one of the wines of the vintage in 2015, probably the wine of the vintage. It is seductive and beautifully balanced, displaying power and harmony. The tannins are silky and the wine has exceptional length. It is easily on par qualitatively with the 2009 and 2010 here. Only 35% of the crop has gone into the grand vin, and only 23% into what is probably the best ever Pavillon Rouge. This is remarkably strict selection in a vintage as special as this one in Margaux. The property has also produced an exceptional Pavillon Blanc, again undoubtedly among its finest. All the wines are a fitting tribute to the late, great Paul Pontallier.

Margaux has had a good to very good vintage in 2014. It vies with 2012 as being the best year here since 2010. The quality is not quite as outstanding as it is further north in the Haut-Médoc [St Estèphe, for example has produced wines that rival 2010] but I was still impressed with many of the wines in Margaux for their balance and elegance. Things feel significantly more homogeneous here than in the past in what remains a very heterogeneous and large appellation. Out side of Château Margaux and Château Palmer I was very impressed with Château Brane Cantenac, Château Giscours, Château Lascombes, Château Marquis de Terme and Château Rauzan-Ségla. There are good efforts too from Château Angludet, Château Cantenac Brown, Château Kirwan, Château Labégorce, Château Malescot Saint-Exupéry, Château Rauzan Gassies and Château Siran.

At Château Margaux Paul Pontallier describes 2014 as very good for their reds, and a great year for the white Pavillon Blanc. Overall 2014 is certainly a classic vintage in the sense of elegance and proportion found in the wines and the attractive freshness that they display. It will probably vie with 2012 as the best vintage here since the heady days of 2009 and 2010. Time will tell. Pavillon Rouge is a structured, classic and fresh Margaux while Pavillon Blanc is indeed a beauty. It completes a thrilling set of highly successful back-to-back vintages for this label. Is it the best Pavillon Blanc ever? It’s probably the best I’ve tasted.

The Margaux appellation has struggled more than most in 2013. A great many wines tasted at the Union des Grand Crus tasting were in a kind of no-man’s land. The delicate fruit tones of 2013 had been worked too much in quite a few cases, rendering them chewy and extracted yet with puckering levels of acidity. Some very good wines have still been made. I’ve posted separately on Château Margaux and Château Palmer. Both stand out as beacons of hope but neither are what you might call affordable. Elegant efforts from Château Angludet, Château Giscours and Château du Tertre are pure and vigorous and worth considering if you’re a Margaux fan [like me]. Château Rauzan-Ségla and Château Brane-Cantenac, Château d’Issan and Château Lascombes, should also work out well too. The disappointments seem more to do with approaches to the vintage in the cellar as much as the problems that 2013 presented itself. In some respects many of the Margaux wounds are self-inflicted.