Chateau Margaux 2012

The 2012 Château Margaux is showing much differently from bottle than it did from cask. Seemingly much fuller and richer, it has a dense ruby/purple color, representing a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest mostly Merlot, as well as only 33% of their harvest. It possesses hints of spring flowers intermixed with blueberries, blackberries and cassis fruit, moderate tannin, a multi-dimensional mouthfeel, and a long, structured finish. This 2012 was charming, up-front and precociously styled from barrel, but in bottle it is more masculine, dense and rich. This wine needs a good 5-7 years of cellaring, and should keep well for 25 or more years. This is a great effort from Château Margaux, and should handsomely repay those who buy it. Anticipated maturity: 2023-2040.

This quintessentially finesse-styled Margaux exhibits notes of pure black currants, spring flowers, graphite and forest floor. With supple tannins and medium body, this pretty, stylish effort reminds me of the 2001 or perhaps a modern day, improved version of their 1979. The lovely 2012 should be drinkable in 4-5 years and last for two decades.

Only about one-third of the total production made it into the 2012 Chateau Margaux, which is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Like many Medoc first-growths in this vintage, this estate-s aim was to make an elegant, supple-styled 2012 that emphasized the fruit, charm and delicacy of this terroir rather than pushing extraction and going for a powerhouse, which would have been difficult to produce in a vintage like 2012. The natural alcohol is 13%

Tasted blind at the 2012 Southwold tasting, the 2012 Château Margaux has a taut, linear, pencil lead-infused bouquet with pure blackberry and boysenberry scents, an undercurrent of tobacco that surfaces after five minutes in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, a life-affirming sense of balance with well-integrated new oak towards the finish. I concur with Robert Parker that his has become more structured and masculine in bottle, yet there is pedigree here from start to finish, a sense of effortlessness that is seductive. This is a top-class wine from the late Paul Pontallier and his team. Tasted January 2016.

Wonderful aromas of flowers such as roses, violets, strawberries and a hints of wet earth. Wet stones as well. Full to medium body, very firm tannins and a long, racy finish. Minerals and chalk on the aftertaste. Needs three to five years to soften. Better in 2020.

This is tannic and rich on the finish. Lacks a bit on the center palate, but full and very pretty fruit. Long finish. 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc, 9% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot.

The 2012 Margaux is beautifully polished and suave in the glass, with pliant fruit and plenty of finesse, all in a classic, mid-weight Margaux style. Inward and tightly wound, the 2012 is clearly holding back much of its potential. The 2012 has a stony, mineral-infused energy that is going to require at least a few more years in bottle to fully unwind, while the 100% new oak is a bit pronounced at this early stage. Grilled herbs, smoke, graphite and sage add further nuances on the savory, delineated finish. Drink 2022 - 2042.

Heady and very much in the same style as the Pavillon but a bit more emphatic. Grand - not in a monumental sense because there is nothing big about this. Very discreet and I think the two wines are closer together than usual.