1997 Château Margaux

Chateau Margaux's grand vin is an outstanding example of 1999, with power lurking behind the sweetness and roundness of the vintage. According to manager Paul Pontallier, this estate declassified a late-ripening parcel of cabernet sauvignon that's usually included in the first wine, and used saignee to reduce the volume of several of its other parcels by 10% to 12%. The result is a particularly dense '99, and a stronger-than-usual Pavillon Rouge, as concentrated as—and perhaps more expressive than—the '98 a year ago.

"Nineteen ninety-eight was one of the most surprising vintages I've ever witnessed," reported manager Paul Pontallier. "I was very optimistic in August but then much less optimistic at harvest time due to the rains. I expected the wine to be thinner, drier, diluted. But the grapes were ripe at fairly low alcohol levels, and I've been amazed by the concentration and density the wine shows today." Tannin levels were very high in '98, as high as in '95, says Pontallier, adding that only 1986 had more tannins. The estate did some saignee but does not use other techniques for concentrating the juice. "The potential alcohol level was too low to match the power of the wine, so chaptalization was a better approach. Using other methods of concentrating the wine would have risked concentrating the tough tannins as well, and the wine could have turned out too harsh." Pontallier describes the young '98 as between '95 and '86 in style, with gentler, rounder tannins than the '86 but more austere than the '95.

All early tasters I've spoken with to date agree that Chateau Margaux has done about as well as any Medoc chateau under the tricky conditions of the '97 harvest. "Our standards for quality have become even higher after the '96 and '95 vintages," points out manager Paul Pontallier. "In 1997 we had merlot up to 13.5% and we had terrific cabernet sauvignon at 11.5%," he noted. "But we had cabernet vats with similar grape sugars that were clearly less successful. For example, some of our cabernet on clay-rich chalky soil, which normally contributes to the structure of our wine, lacked its typical tannic density and did not make it into the final blend." There were actually three levels of selection in '97, with a very low 40% surviving the cut for the grand vin, 50% used for the Pavillon Rouge, and 10% declassified into a third wine. My retasting of '96 and '95 confirms that this is a stunning pair of vintages for Margaux.