Fifteen or twenty years ago, Margaux was Bordeaux’s most inconsistent great wine commune. There were always splendid highlights, but there were a fair degree of disappointments. There will always be variety in Margaux. It is a relatively large appellation that covers a lot of diverse terroir, but in recent vintages there has been much more consistency here. The movement away from extractive winemaking has helped no doubt, and a number of wines that were formally hard and unnecessarily chewy seemed to have cleaned up their act. I won’t name names, but there is such a lot more refinement to the wines these days. Margaux certainly comes into its own in 2025. This may be one of its most classical years since 2015. Though quite different in style, there was just as much excitement for me tasting these wines as there was back during 2015 primeurs, a decade ago. I don’t think anyone has really put a foot wrong in 2025 here but what are the top Margaux picks?

I only got to taste six wines from the Lalande de Pomerol appellation. I had these at the Grand Cercle tasting them blind. If I’m being honest, these were the most mixed wines of the right bank appellations in 2025. Again, I attribute this to the challenge of the drought and the heat on the sandy and sandy/gravel soils of the appellation. The exception here was a very positive wine from Château Siaurac, which would definitely be one to seek out if priced reasonably. La Surgue and Château de Chambrun were also both good and should turn out well. I hope you find the detailed notes below useful.

I tasted fewer wines from Pomerol than I’d have liked owing to a shortage of time on my recent Bordeaux primeurs trip. I stopped off at Château Beauregard for the UGCB tasting there. This line-up was generally very consistent, and many attractive wines have been made. They are all very much of the vintage, structured, vivid and fresh. Earlier in the trip I tasted blind the Pomerol represented by the Grand Cercle. These were a bit more mixed, which I think is related to the challenges of heat and drought in 2025 and what this meant for soils on drier sandier plots. There seemed a correlation with those wines that felt a bit less ripe in tannin, with more austerity, and being on sandier soils. Remember that the yields in 2025 were also very low, not simply owing to the heat and drought, but also the inherited effects of the tricky flowering period in the preceding 2024 growing season. In fact, yields were generally in the 30hl/ha area. So, what are my picks?

Château Larcis Ducasse has one of the most enviable terroirs on the Côte Pavie. Not only do the vineyards fully face the sun, but beneath the terraced millefeuille of limestone and clay soils are natural springs that originate deep below that keep the vines roots nourished even in the hottest and driest of years. It’s a grand terroir that has succeeded exceptionally well here in 2025. This will be long-lived Larcis. The wine is reminiscent of the 2015 and the 2005 for me. There is super purity as you’d expect but this is a structured and formidable Larcis that needs time. David Suire, the man with the Midas touch at Château Laroque, has been working at Larcis Ducasse for 25 years, first alongside Nicolas Thienpont and now, since the retirement of Nicolas, on his own as director with the Gratiot-Attmane family.