Margaux Focus 3: Château Margaux 

BY NEAL MARTIN | SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

If I were obscenely wealthy and money no object, I would have poured Château Margaux at my wedding party for all 200 guests. Unfortunately, I am not obscenely wealthy, and money is an object. Consequently, at my reception upstairs at Leigh-on-Sea Sailing Club, wines were served according to my estimation of guests’ appreciation, which I admit does sound Machiavellian. Those wishing to get completely plastered on whatever was closest to hand and, trust me, there were serious casualties that night, glugged a delicious but in those days cheap-as-chips Viré-Clessé from the maestro, Jean-Marie Guffens. Those with appreciative palates sipped away a few bottles of Batailley. For the newlyweds, back at a hotel that made Fawlty Towers look like the Grand Hyatt, a bottle of 1955 Château Margaux awaited.

How did it taste?

I’ll tell you later.

This First Growth has always had a special place in my heart since I started visiting 25 years ago. Like every first-time visitor, I was entranced by the symmetry of its iconic treelined driveway that instinctively draws the eye toward its geometrically satisfying façade, peaking like a bashful child from behind trees. It’s one of the defining images of Bordeaux, and years later, it is no less mesmerizing. Soon, I became acquainted with Paul Pontallier and tasted Château Margaux as regularly as someone on limited means could afford. That said, it has been a long time since I published a standalone article on the First Growth. So in January, I spent a fruitful day with Alexis Leven-Mentzelopoulos, son of proprietor Corinne Mentzelopoulos, estate director Philippe Bascaules and their team.

I wonder how many people have taken this photo over the years?

History

To those visiting and wanting to learn more about the history of Château Margaux, I advise turning up earlier than scheduled. Take a few minutes to stroll around their museum at reception, which is full of fascinating maps and architectural drawings detailing its origins. I always take a browse myself.

Margose or Margouze?

Clive Coates MW, writing in his Grands Vins tome, notes that the manor dates back to the Middle Ages. Here once stood a fortress, one of a series designed to protect the Gironde Estuary from marauders. Over the following centuries, various seigneurs presided over the land that was referred to as “La Mothe de Margaux,” which loosely translates as “the Margaux mound.” The estate coalesced between 1572 and 1582 via a flurry of acquisitions and exchanges by Pierre de Lestonnac so that by 1680, it had grown to some 265 hectares with around 70 hectares under vine. According to Coates, English aristocrats soon coveted its wine, which was labeled under various names, including Margouze, Margouse and Margot. A copy of the 1705 London Gazette marks the first reference in print, an auction that included 230 barrels of “Margose.” At that time, the owners were the d’Aulède family. Pierre-François d’Aulède became the Marquis of Margaux, one of the most powerful figures in the region alongside the Marquis de Ségur. Following his death, the estate passed between several families, such as the du Barrys and Fumel. The first mention under its present name was in a Christie's catalogue, which reads, “An excellent claret with a fine flavor, from the 1771 vintage.”

The wine became the favorite tipple of the political elite. Sir Robert Walpole, the first English Prime Minister, bought four casks every three months, though he apparently rarely settled his tab. In 1787, future US President Thomas Jefferson made his famous tour of Bordeaux and placed “Château Margau” (sic) at the head of his list of first growths. He namechecks its owner, the Marquis d’Agincourt and mentions that it fetched 2,400 livres per tonneau, indicating that it was already deemed one of the region’s finest wines. That said, he takes umbrage at its price and complains: “It cost me three livres a bottle. This is very dear.”