2018 Chateau Labegorce Margaux 750 ml

If your Bordeaux budget is unlimited, finding a superstar bottle in Margaux is easy: The precious appellation is packed with famous Grand Cru Classé estates, among them Château Margaux ($620), Second Growth Rauzan-Ségla ($154), and Third Growth Château Palmer ($360+).

But finding a super steal in Margaux is rare, which is why we expect the critically lauded 2018 Château Labegorce to disappear into the cellars of our savviest Bordeaux collectors. Hailing from a northerly neighbor of châteaux Lascombes, Rauzan-Ségla, and Margaux itself, the 93-96-point 2018 Labegorce is THE ONLY wine in Jeb Dunnuck’s 2018 Margaux top ten that didn’t come from a Grand Cru Classé estate. 

We absolutely flipped for this powerful and youthful Margaux when we tasted it en primeur… and then came the critical consensus: Dunnuck dubbed it a “rocking value” in his 93-96-point review, and Wine Enthusiast added to the praise with a similar score that says the same thing: Labegorce is an affordable winner from one of the greatest regions in Bordeaux. And once one of the critics settles on a 95- or 96-point score, this wine will be a memory.

Château Labegorce epitomizes the under-the-radar château benefiting from Grand Cru Classé expertise. Owned by Nathalie Perrodo, whose family also owns nearby Marquis d’Alesme—one of our favorite Cru Classé estates in the region—the estate borders on châteaux Margaux and Lascombes. The property dates back to 1332, and in the intervening centuries, has been described as “one of the most beautiful and best situated in the town of Margaux.” 

Nathalie’s late father Hubert Perrodo purchased the property in 1989 and set it on its current course, which has its wines gaining more and more attention from the critics that matter. Under Nathalie’s stewardship and under the eye of General Manager Marjolaine Maurice de Coninck (formerly of Château Fonplegade and also the boss at Marquis d’Alesme), they’re turning out wines that display the best of Margaux, while coming in at a fraction of the region’s marquee names. 

Consisting of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the wine is aged for more than a year in 40% new French oak, and when we tasted it out of barrel, it showed nothing but pure Margaux long-range potential, the black and blue fruit opening up to nuances of tilled earth, allspice, cedar, mocha, and fresh violets. With a beautifully structured palate built on firm, fine tannins and a lift of acidity, its integrated baking spice notes of oak linger long on the palate. Youthful now but fit for decades in the cellar, this is one of the best Bordeaux investments you can make.