Château Margaux, Pavillon Rouge, Bordeaux, 2015

Overview of the Wine
Chateau Margaux, a Premier Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux, is one of the most famous wines in the world. Care has been lavished on the property by a line of owners with an abiding concern for the reputation of the estate.

For more than five hundred years, season after season, generations of vineyard-workers, grapeharvesters, cellar-workers, coopers and many other craftsmen have all played a part in making Chateau Margaux what it is today: a wine with an incomparable personality, reflected in the elegant Palladian building which adorns its label. In 1977, the estate was purchased by the late André Mentzelopoulos, and it is now run by his daughter, Corinne Mentzelopoulos.

Winemaker
Corinne Mentzelopoulos

Grape / Blend
74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc

Origin
Bordeaux, France

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
Never before has our insistence on quality been so great for the Pavillon Rouge; today we are producing half as much as we did ten years ago. For the 2015 vintage no more than 23% of our harvest went into the blend. Thanks to this severity, the style of the Pavillon Rouge is continuing to approach that of the Grand Vin. The Cabernet Sauvignon constitutes 74% of the blend; it brings a dense texture, an ample palate and a long finish sustained by the peppered mint and sap aromas. The Merlot accounts for 21% of the blend and envelops the wine with a captivating silky veil. The 4% of Petit Verdot brings spicy aromas and the 1% of Cabernet Franc completes the blend. With its structure, its refinement and its length, the Pavillon Rouge 2015 is probably the best Pavillon Rouge that we have ever produced.

96 Points - James Suckling
This is very tight and compacted with a condensed palate of currant and dark-berry character. A salty and mineral undertone to the wine. Full body and firm and linear tannins. Focused and intense. Long and precise on the finish. This is the best ever second wine of Margaux. Drink after 2023.

94 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
The second wine of the estate is the 2015 Pavillon Rouge and its 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc raised in 60% new French oak. It’s a sensational wine in its own right, offering smokin’ good notes of crème de cassis, blueberries, toasted spices and ample minerality. Rich, full-bodied, opulent and concentrated with notable tannin, give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following two decades or more.

94 Points - Wine Enthusiast
This wine's beautiful tannins are complemented by the ripe black fruits. Together they give a wine that is succulent, rich and firmly structured for long aging. Black currants, blackberries and intense crisp acidity come together in this intense wine. Drink from 2026.

94 Points - Falstaff
Dark ruby, purple reflections, soft brightening on the rim, intense red berry fruit, a hint of currant, a touch of spice, pleasant cherry fruit. Full-bodied, ripe sweet blackberry fruit, discreet fruit, mineral, distinctive saltiness that gives the wine freshness, fine nougat on the finish, very good length.

92 Points - Wine Advocate
Blended of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, the 2015 Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and an expressive, alluringly spicy nose of cloves, cinnamon stick and fenugreek with a core of red and black currants, black cherries and wild blueberries plus a waft of pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied with very fine, grainy tannins and wonderful freshness, it finishes long and satisfying.

Product size: 750ml