Winemaker Notes
The Chateau D’Arsac’s blend of 72% cabernet sauvignon and 28% merlot come together to create a deep red, almost black colour. It gives off aromas of ripe red fruit and understated well-integrated oak, due to the 12 month ageing in 100% oak barrels.
The wine presents itself like a 3-act dance; fresh and fruity from the outset, going on to display excellent balance, concentration, and texture and finishes long, with elegant oak.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Vines and a spectacular park with modern sculpture mark out this showpiece estate. It has produced an elegant wine, full of perfumed fruit and with fine, dusty tannins. It should age well, morphing into a stylish wine with richness and longevity. Drink from 2024.
Editors' Choice -
Decanter
A lighter-framed Margaux with the emphasis on floral notes and raspberry fruits. Good quality, enjoyable, no need to wait before cracking this open, but it’s full of pleasure. Drinking Window 2020 - 2030
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James Suckling
The fragrant ripe-blackberry nose leads into this rather powerful Margaux with plenty of structure, the tannins building nicely on the long, moderately firm finish. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 D'Arsac was showing just a touch of volatility on the nose at first, although my sample addressed that with some rigorous aeration, revealing marine-tinged black fruit laced with blueberry and crushed violet. The palate is medium-bodied with a vibrant, spicy opening and superb delineation. Very harmonious in the mouth, there is impressive depth and wonderful freshness to this Margaux, delivering great length on the finish. It should be afforded maybe five years to fully subsume that new oak, but it will certainly be worth the wait. Bucking the trend for Margaux wines to have peaked in 2015, this 2016 is leagues above last year's wine. Bravo. Rating: 89-91
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Silky, seductive and polished are the words that characterize the best wines from Margaux, the most inland appellation of the Médoc on the Left Bank of Bordeaux.
Margaux’s gravel soils are the thinnest of the Médoc, making them most penetrable by vine roots—some reaching down over 23 feet for water. The best sites are said to be on gentle outcrops, or croupes, where more gravel facilitates good drainage.
The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification but it is nonetheless important in regards to history of the area. In 1855 the finest chateaux were deemed on the basis of reputation and trading price—at that time. In 1855, Chateau Margaux achieved first growth status, yet it has been Chateau Palmer (officially third growth from the 1855 classification) that has consistently outperformed others throughout the 20th century.
Chateau Margaux in top vintages is capable of producing red Cabernet Sauvignon based wines described as pure, intense, spell-binding, refined and profound with flavors and aromas of black currant, violets, roses, orange peel, black tea and incense.
Other top producers worthy of noting include Chateau Rauzan-Ségla, Lascombes, Brane-Cantenac, and d’Issan, among others.
The best wines of Margaux combine a deep ruby color with a polished structure, concentration and an unrivaled elegance.