Chateau Margaux 2015

JAMES SUCKLING: "This is a haunting young wine that shows you a subtle and hidden strength on the nose with rose petals, currants, currant leaves, stones and plums. Wonderful ripeness yet brightness, too. Takes your breath away with the intensity and structure. Full-bodied, powerful and muscular, yet there's an agile undertone to the whole thing. Compact and condensed. A new legend for Margaux. The 1961 that didn’t happen. Try in 2024."

DECANTER: "My joint top wine (with Ch Mouton Rothschild) of the vintage. Pure charm: the palate is discreet at the start and then goes on forever , always with the château’s silky texture and fine, firmly structured tannins. This will become a very great wine. Drinking Window 2022 - 2050."

JEB DUNNUCK: "The grand vin is the 2015 Château Margaux and it’s as good a wine as I’ve ever tasted. Coming from just over one-third of the total production and a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and the balance Petit Verdot, brought up in 100% new French oak, its deep ruby/purple-tinged color is followed by a thrilling bouquet of crème de cassis, toasted spice, hints of toasty oak, and cedar wood. Incredibly elegant and finesse-driven, yet packed with fruit, depth, richness, and structure, it has as much class as you can fit inside a glass. While the vintage provides plenty of upfront charm, this is a wine to cellar for at least a decade, and enjoy over the following 40+ years."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, dezente Randaufhellung. Zart tabakig-gewürzig unterlegte feine Herzkirschfrucht, zart nach Nougat und kandierten Orangenzesten, facettenreiches und einladendes Bukett. Saftig, extraktsüß, reife Kirschen, seidige Süße, große Finesse, einfach unglaublich delikat und lange anhaltend. Präsentiert in der Ausnahmeausstattung mit Siebdrucketikett als »Hommage à Paul Pontallier«. (2019)."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Deep, shiny, dark ruby in color, this rocks as soon as the wine is out of the gate, or should I say out of the bottle and into your glass. Cherry blossoms and lilacs make it seem as though you are in a flower shop. On the palate, the wine is rich, full bodied and concentrated, yet the wine is light on its feet. There is a purity in the fruit that is off the hook. There is a sensuous, textural quality that makes it so you cannot help but take another sip, to make sure the experience is real, and because it is so good! The wine is a testament to Paul Pontallier, as this is in some ways, a culmination of his life's work."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "Predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine shows a wonderful black-currant purity on the palate, along with intense, vibrant acidity. The background is all tannin, which speaks to its aging potential. This wine is the last vintage produced by Paul Pontallier, who was general manager from 1990 until his death in 2016. It's a memorable wine and one for aging. Drink from 2027."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2015 Chateau Margaux is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Medium garnet-purple colored, the nose features oh-so-seductive notes of warm blackberries, cassis and black forest cake with touches of forest floor, sandalwood, anise and cigar boxes plus a waft of lavender. Medium to full-bodied, it delivers taut, muscular, densely packed black fruits and exotic spice flavor layers supported by a very firm backbone of grainy tannins with oodles of freshness and a long, savory finish. It is tightly knit and a little reticent at this very youthful stage; afford it at least 15 years in the cellar, and it will open out into a classic Chateau Margaux of incredible proportions. Readers may be interested to know that this wine is beautifully packaged in a special commemorative bottle honoring winemaker Paul Pontellier, who passed away in 2016. The gold-etched black bottle bears the message, “Hommage à Paul Pontellier” at the bottom. This 2015 is an achingly beautiful swan song from an incredibly gifted winemaker, taken from us too soon. In my view, this alone makes this vintage more than worth the investment for the many lovers of history in a bottle."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Sublime, with captivating sandalwood, black tea and mesquite aromas that infuse the core of gently steeped red and black currant and raspberry fruit. The structure is seamless and thoroughly embedded throughout, letting warm tar, lilac, juniper and iron notes display themselves at will through the finish. The finish is about as long as it gets, with echoes of fruit and warm earth that should prove haunting when this reaches full maturity. Best from 2030 through 2050. 10,833 cases made."

WEINWISSER: "87 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 8 % Merlot, 3 % Cabernet Franc, 2 % Petit Verdot. Nur ein Drittel der Produktion wurde als Grand Vin selektioniert. Sattes Purpur-Granat, dicht in der Mitte, lila Schimmer aussen. Süsses Bouquet mit einem Hauch von ganz frisch gepflückten Beeren und Dörrfrüchten, eine Nuance Grenadine, gekochte Kirschen, fein laktische Töne, die dem ausladenden Bouquet eine herrlich-raffinierte Fülle verleihen. Im Gaumen seidig, elegant mit veloursartiger Textur, und wieder diese süssen, schier verführerischen roten Beeren in verschwenderischer Form. Man muss wissen, dass der Cabernet sonst eigentlich den Blend verdünnt, weil die Merlots höhere Alkoholgradationen avisieren. Hier lagen die Cabernet-Chargen auf über 13-Volumenprozent, was nicht die Regel ist. Ein royaler Margaux mit viel Finesse. Anfangs mag man seine Kraft unterschätzen, aber dann ist sie unweigerlich am druckvollen Nachklang zu erspüren."