2009 Chateau Margaux Margaux 750 ml

Few estates on the planet inspire reverence like Château Margaux. It was the only Classified Growth to earn a perfect score in the original 1855 Classification of Bordeaux, and this First Growth has never stopped chasing perfection since.

The estate's history runs deep. By the 17th century, Château Margaux was close to the size it is today, its deep gravel soils near the Gironde already famous. Thomas Jefferson toured the property in 1787 and came away ranking it among the greatest wines in all of Bordeaux, and little about its standing has changed in the centuries since.

For all that history, Margaux has never stood still. It remains one of Bordeaux's most resolutely traditional estates while continuing to refine what happens in the cellar, and many believe it is making the finest wines in its history—precision layered onto a foundation of deep tradition.

The 2009 vintage is the stuff of Bordeaux legend. A warm, dry summer and a sun-drenched fall gave the region a near-perfect run to harvest, ripening small, concentrated berries that balanced opulence with freshness—the rare combination that separates a truly great year from a merely good one. Robert Parker called it "unquestionably the greatest Bordeaux vintage I have ever tasted," and few years have earned that kind of superlative from a critic who made a career of tasting everything.                             

The wine was made under Paul Pontallier, the late, legendary director who guided the estate for a quarter-century. Only a fraction of the year's production made it into the grand vin, built around Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot and a touch of Petit Verdot completing the blend—a selection as ruthless as it is essential to the estate's standard.

In the glass, it carries the perfume and silk that are Margaux's calling cards, scaled up to match the vintage. Cassis, blackberry, and plum mingle with graphite, truffle, and a fine mineral thread, and the palate builds a slow, layered generosity toward a finish of remarkable length.

Still youthful and tightly wound, it rewards the patient as readily as the curious—a wine to open for a glimpse of greatness now, or to hold as it moves deeper into its long, slow evolution.