A Margaux with beautiful depth and grace and wonderfully well-placed, refined tannins, showing presence and a soft texture. They caress your palate. Full-bodied, yet tight and extremely long. Seamless. 87% cabernet franc, 8% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot.

Reviewer Name: James Suckling

Review Date: 25th May 2022

Margaux (Margaux; 87% Cabernet Sauvignon; 8% Merlot: 3% Cabernet Franc; 2% Petit Verdot; 13.1% alcohol; pH 3.65; IPT 75 (the same as 2019); tasted at the property). There was significant frost damage in the vineyard here, but mainly on inland parcels destined for the 3rd and 4th wines. By contrast, mildew pressure was largely controlled without any significant loss, the grapes ultimately harvested in excellent sanitary condition. A glorious and gracious Chateau Margaux that is beautifully refined and elegant with an exquisite pure dark cool-summer berry fruit profile of brambles, black cherries and cassis. The texture on the attack is breathtakingly soft, with the wine exhibiting a very natural calm tranquillity and a measured calm confident authority. Though the structure is quite tight, the fruit strapped close to the spine, it is dense and compact; the effect is that tannins, so often silky at their best in this relatively light vintage, are more velvety in texture reflecting the sheer depth and concentration of the fruit. This is one of the few wines of the vintage to have a pronounced core around which the structure of the wine is built. The role played by the press wines (here around 10-12%) was crucial. In the mid-palate this glides, glistens, shines and shimmers with clarity and a luminous and aerial, almost radiant, quality. And, right at the end, the cassis fruit is eventually released from the bind of the tannins and it builds and grows fabulously to a sapid and refreshing fantail crescendo on the finish. Very moderated, very classy, very precise and very special indeed.

Reviewer Name: Colin Hay

Review Date: 11th May 2022

A dark nose, serious and a bit closed, though there is such complexity on the palate. You get the tannic feel in the mouth straight away, mouthfilling, ample, generous and chewy - these tannins have weight and density but are lifted by the bright, high-definition cherry, strawberry and raspberry acidity underneath keeping things vibrant and fresh with a sour cherry and stoney minerality on the finish. Exceptional balance and sculpting, this has energy but also poise. Sophisticated glamour in full force, svelte and suave - this is a wine that aims to please. Definitely one of the most thrilling and captivating wines of the vintage! 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. 36% grand vin.

Drinking Window: 2027 - 2050

Reviewer Name: Georgina Hindle

Review Date: 1st April 2022

The 2021 Château Margaux is clearly one of the finest wines of the vintage. Offering up a deep bouquet of raspberries, wild blueberries and plums mingled with sweet spices, violets, licorice and hints of cigar box, it's full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with terrific depth at the core and beautifully refined, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, floral finish. Combining the vibrant flavors and moderate alcohol (13.1%) of a vintage of the last century with all the precision of the present in extraction and élevage, it is a timeless classic; and lest that be mistaken for a euphemism for a lack of concentration, note that the wine is analytically as high in polyphenols as the brilliant 2019. Representing only 36% of the estate's production, the 2021 is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.

Reviewer Name: William Kelley

Review Date: 29th April 2022

I think the wine of the vintage is the 2021 Château Margaux, which comes from a miniscule selection of just 36% of the total production. The final blend is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, all of which is resting in 100% new French oak. Reminding me slightly of a riper 1996, it has incredible purity in its ripe cassis and blueberry fruits as well as notes of liquid violets, spicy oak, graphite, and hints of sandalwood. As seamless as they come, medium to full-bodied, perfectly balanced, and with ample Château Margaux purity and finesse, this brilliant juice is as good as it gets in the vintage.

Reviewer Name: Jeb Dunnuck

Review Date: 2nd June 2022

The 2021 Château Margaux is a powerful, surprisingly brooding wine. According to Technical Director Philippe Bascaules, dry extract numbers are in line with 2019, which is hardly surprising in tasting the wine. Today, the Grand Vin is so primary. The intensity of the dark red/purplish fruit is notable, and yet the wine is positively embryonic. Bright acids and plenty of tannin abound. The 2021 is a rich, penetrating Margaux that is going to need a lot of time.

Drinking Window: 2031 - 2071

Reviewer Name: Antonio Galloni

Review Date: 11th May 2022

The 2021 Chateau Margaux is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it is a little closed and broody to start, with notions of tar, licorice, fertile loam, and truffles leading to a core of fresh blackcurrants, juicy blackberries, and black raspberries, plus a touch of iron ore. Medium-bodied, the palate has wonderful intensity with a firm, fine-grained texture and plenty of freshness to support the tightly knit black and red berry flavors, finishing with loads of energy and shimmer. The first wine represents 36% of the crop this year and it came in with a phenolic index (IPT) of 75.

Drinking Window: 2028 - 2058

Reviewer Name: Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Review Date: 17th May 2022

The 2021 Château Margaux, aged in 100% new oak as usual, is clean and precise on the nose, much more discrete than the outgoing Pavillon Rouge and unfolds like a temptress in the glass. Intense dark cherries, hints of blueberry and trademark crushed violets then start to billow, all exquisitely defined. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky smooth veneer that does a good job disguising the structure underneath. Surprisingly plush given the growing season, the concentration is very impressive with no hard edges. It's a very Margaux-like Château Margaux insofar that it could not come from any other appéllation.

Drinking Window: 2027 - 2060

Reviewer Name: Neal Martin

Review Date: 13th May 2022

Vivid fruit, raspberries and bilberries, cassis bud, saffron and graphite, full of energy and classicism, showcasing what can be achieved in the vintage. Harvest through to October 14. 36% of the overall production. 3.64ph, Tannic index of 73, the same level as in 2019 and a litttle less than 2018 and 2020. Philippe Bascaules director, Eric Boissenot consultant.

Drinking Window: 2028 - 2044

Reviewer Name: Jane Anson

Review Date: 12th May 2022

Fragrant and floral with violet and peony notes. Clean and direct on attack, mid-palate weight and drive on the finish. Low-key but refined tannic frame. Super-length and persistence. Discreet but elegant, if less substance than a wine scoring 18 or higher.

Drinking Window: 2030 - 2050

Reviewer Name: James Lawther MW

Review Date: 11th May 2022