Margaux

 

Margaux is the perfume, the elegance, the fragile beauty. Stylistically it is pretty much the opposite of Pauillac with it's charm and feminine character. If you miss the bouqet of a Margaux, you probably missed all of it.One has to keep in mind however that Margaux is the largest of the 4 prestige communes of the Medoc with it's 1.400 ha of vineyards. This means that potentially the different chateaux can produce very different wines given also the wide variety of terroirs here. A Margaux does not have to be feminine per se but indeed the most elegant wines are also coming from this commune. Additionally, some 1/3rd of all Medoc classified chateaux are within it's boundary. Talking about the terroir, the defining soil type is gravel on a limestone-sand-clay bedrock. The depth of the gravel varies from property to property - or better to say even within the vineyards - but generally the deeper the better. The late ripening Cabernet Sauvignon vine performs best on this type of soil, while shallower soils with more limestone and sand content are occupied by the Merlot. Margaux's soil is considerably thin, poor in clay when compared to other communes and generally speaking not very deep. This low density of the soil poses a problem in hot years, as the water bed cannot last for a long time and vines may suffer from hydric stress. Chateaux Margaux is one of the five first growths.

 

Chateaux Margaux 1er cru