Margaux Wine

Overview

• Wine Styles
• Major Producers
• 90+ Wines

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Margaux is the most southerly, most isolated, and most extensive of the Medoc's communal appellations, taking in not just the sub­stantial village of Margaux, but also the neighboring communities of Cantenac, Soussans, Labarde, and Arsac.

Margaux and its "satellites" are considered to make the Medoc's most polished and fragrant wine, but despite its fame, this prestigious appellation was only decreed in 1954. With 21 classified chateaux, there are more second and third growths there than anywhere, including one of only five first-growth properties in all of Bordeaux, Chateau Margaux.  With this sort of pedigree, standards, along with prices, can be quite high in the region, but at their stereotypical best, the wines of Margaux combine the deep ruby color, structure, and concentration of the highest quality wines of the Medoc, but with a stunningly intense perfume and a silkier texture than is found to the north.

Terroir

The soil of Margaux is the thinnest in the Medoc, but in practice this is actually a boon to the winegrowers of the region. Having a high proportion of rough gravel, it has little to offer grapevines by the way of nourishment, but the terrain drains exceptionally well even in very wet years.  While in poor years the wines have been known to come out on the thin side, in favorable years the result is wine that starts its life comparatively supple, and with the sweet, lingering perfume that good Margaux is known for.

Wine Styles
The grapes used primarily in Margaux wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, plus a small percentage of Petit Verdot. Ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon in particular, the hallmark of Margaux wines is their delicate weight, fragrant aroma, and fine tannic structure. "Feminine" is often the adjective used to describe them, although modern winemaking techniques have slightly distorted this ideal, and some wines are now more concentrated.  One would therefore look to differences in grape varieties, technique and tradition more than changes of soil to try to explain the differences between the chateaux.

Major Producers
The appellation's best properties include the first growth Château Margaux, the Merlot leaning Chateau Palmer, Rauzan Ségla, Ferriere, d'Issan, Brane Cantenac, Kirwan, Giscours, Prieuré Lichine, Labégorce Zédé, La Gurgue, Cantenac Brown and Rauzan Gassies.

With the refined air of a palace, Chateau Margaux is certainly a Medoc first-growth which both plays and looks the part, although Chateau d'Issan is perhaps the most beautiful house in the Medoc: a 17th-century manor within the complete moat of an old chateau-fort by the river. Third-growth Chateau Palmer presents a formidable chal­lenge to Margaux in terms of the class of the region, and unlike so many red Bordeaux today, it produces a wine that acutely expresses its origins.

90+ Wines of Margaux