Chateau Margaux Bordeaux Wine Tasting back to 1937

"You have only so many bottles in your life, never drink a bad one."
Len Evans

We intend to drink every bottle of great wine that we can!!  And I can’t ever remember a Chateau Margaux that I have had that was not great. 

We continue our study of Bordeaux in the month of October with another great Bordeaux tasting featuring a vertical selection of one of the first growths of Bordeaux going back 86 years!

This event features 8 different vintages of Chateau Margaux going back to the 1937 vintage, including a comparison between Chateau Palmer and Chateau Margaux in the 2009 vintage and some other great vintages like 1959, 1982 and 1989 among others. 

The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $995 + tax which is ½ the price of many of the wines on the table tonight!  Please let us know when you make your reservations if you have any food allergies of aversions and chefs Toni and Dani will be happy to accommodate you. 
 

Chateau Margaux Bordeaux Tasting back to 1937
Saturday, October 14th
7:30pm

1937 Chateau Margaux Margaux
1959 Chateau Margaux Margaux
1964 Chateau Palmer Margaux
1982 Chateau Margaux Margaux
1989 Chateau Margaux Margaux
2001 Chateau Margaux Margaux
2006 Chateau Margaux Margaux
2009 Chateau Margaux Margaux
2009 Chateau Palmer Margaux

Menu
Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie
Beef Tartar with Quail Egg
Foie Gras Torchon with Current Berry Jelly
Duck Confit with French Fries served with cassis catsup and Bordeaux Demi
Creme Brulee with fresh berries

There are only 12 seats available for this event, the fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $995 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

A bit about Chateau Margaux:

A bit about Chateau Margaux

When you visit Château Margaux you can not help but be impressed by the beehive of activity.  Everywhere there were groundskeepers, barrel makers, blacksmiths, and cellar workers.  But things were not always this way at Châteaux Margaux.  In fact, its previous owner Pierre Ginestet, owner of the financially strapped Bordeaux shipping firm of the same name, had allowed this great property to deteriorate tremendously.  Just as his beautiful neoclassical château was falling into ruins, the wine was suffering the same fate.  Not since 1961 had this property produced a wine that merited its exalted reputation.  Very good wines were made in 1966, 1970, and 1971; but they were not at the top of the class in Bordeaux.  During the late sixties and early seventies, it was common knowledge among Bordeaux insiders and wine lovers everywhere that Château Margaux's neighbor, Château Palmer, was making better wine.  Things probably hit an all time low with the 1976 vintage, a fairly good year for some Bordeaux, but a disaster for Château Margaux.  What was happening to this noble estate was a source of embarrassment to many of the Bordelais.  It was also a downright ripoff to the many winelovers worldwide who were paying ridiculous prices for a wine that was simply not worth the price.

Then, in 1976, the property was purchased by a millionaire Greek supermarket magnate, Andre Mentzelopoulos.  (He passed away in 1980; but his wife, Laura, and his daughter, Connie, continue what he began. It is said that when he first inspected the grounds, he found the '76 vintage waiting to be put into old barrels for aging (all the great Bordeaux properties use new barrels every year).  However, the worse part was that there weren't even enough of those old barrels for the wine!  Undaunted, he, his wife, and his daughter set about refurbishing the entire château and the surrounding property.  They hired Emile Peynaud from the University of Bordeaux, a man who has been credited with revolutionizing the way modern Bordeaux is made.  Peynaud's effect was immediately felt.  Although 1977 was a general disaster in Bordeaux, Château Margaux made a rather stylish wine better than the 1976 (a much more well regarded vintage).  However, the real turnaround became evident in 1978.  Without much argument from anyone, Margaux made the greatest wine in Bordeaux in that great vintage.  But it was no fluke.  The 1979, is just as fine.  (The Mentzelopoulos also think so.)  The 1978 is fuller, richer, pluckier (as the English characterize it); but the 1979 seems to have more of the breed and finesse for which this château was once so famous.  Then came the much maligned 1980 vintage.  Of course Château Margaux did not make a great wine in that year, but it was a very good wine.  Again the critics agreed that Margaux was probably "Best of the Vintage".  The word was out.  Margaux was back...and on a roll!

Corinne Mentzelopoulos graduated with a bachelor’s degree in classical literature and a master’s degree from the Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) in 1979. She began her career at Havas and later worked as a financial controller at Primistères, the company that oversaw the 1,600 Félix Potin shops in Paris.
Following her father’s death in 1980, Corinne took over as head of Château Margaux. Together with famed oenologist Emile Peynaud and the Estate team, then led by Philippe Barré, she set out to build on the impetus of her father’s work. She quickly grew passionate about Margaux, despite lacking a formal background in wine.

She has now managed the vineyard for more than 30 years with a long-term mindset and dedication to excellence. Corinne, who is a mother of three, was delighted to welcome, within the Château Margaux team, her daughter Alexandra in the Fall of 2012 and her son Alexis at the beginning of 2020.

Throughout the 1980's and into the 1990's Château Margaux has repeated with a succession of brilliantly executed wines; in vintages such as 1982, 1983, 1986, 1990, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2010.  Margaux has been a leading candidate for "Wine of the Vintage".   In his epic book BORDEAUX, Robert Parker states that it is "not unfair to suggest that during the eighties there was no better wine made in all of Bordeaux than that of Margaux."  In addition to Peynaud's assistance as a consultant, the château had a brilliant enologist in the name of Paul Pontallier.  Since Paul’s passing in 2016 Philippe Bascaules has been in charge of estate’s winemaking team.

Philippe Bascaules holds a degree in agronomy from Montpellier SupAgro. He first joined Château Margaux in 1990 as Estate Director,  a position he held until 2011, working under the tutelage of Paul Pontallier, whose 33-year tenure as Managing Director ended with his untimely passing in 2016.

Following several years working abroad, Bascaules was appointed Managing Director of Château Margaux by Corinne Mentzelopoulos in 2017.

Since taking over the responsibility of the property, Bascaules has been laying plans for its future alongside Olivier Pinon, who has served as the Paris-based Managing Director since 1983, Deputy Managing Directors Aurélien Valance, Alexandra Petit-Mentzelopoulos and Alexis Leven-Mentzelopoulos, and Estate Director Sébastien Vergne.