Winemaker Notes
Château Kirwan is a wine that is produced from the best parcels of the vineyard that have mainly gravel soils, but some are also clay. The fruit is picked and sorted twice by hand, then vinified in separate batches corresponding to individual vineyard parcels. Half the oak barrels used to age the wine for eighteen months are renewed every year.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
With its new cellars, the estate is performing at top speed and this vintage keeps up the fine track record. Firm tannins and beautifully perfumed fruit are blending together to give a wine that has style as well as structured fruitiness, with all the elegance of great Margaux. Think long-term aging for this wine.
Barrel Sample: 95-97 -
James Suckling
Blackcurrants with bark, cedar and dried flowers coming through in the nose. Full-bodied with integrated tannins and a long, linear finish. Racy and refined. Sophisticated.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sporting a deep garnet-purple color, the 2019 Kirwan comes prancing out of the glass with beguiling scents of rose petals, Morello cherries, boysenberries and warm cassis plus nuances of pencil shavings, wild sage and lavender. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegantly textured with invigorating red berry and floral-laced flavors lifting the black fruits, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. Impressively crafted!
Range: (92-94)
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Decanter
Careful extraction of the sappy, and enjoyably structured, blackcurrant and blackberry fruits. This is a quality Kirwan that, as with last year, is a fairly serious take on the vintage within the appellation. An earthy, smoked cedar note comes out as the structure relaxes, and there is a lot to enjoy in this wine, which is certain to power through the decades. Blend completed with 6% Petit Verdot and for the first time 1% Carmanère.
Barrel Sample: 93 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Redcurrants, Bing cherry, graphite, licorice, violet, and flowery incense notes all define the bouquet of the 2019 Chateau Kirwan, a medium to full-bodied, nicely concentrated Margaux that has a pretty, elegant, juicy style. It doesn't have the density of the top wines in the appellation, yet it's certainly nicely balanced, has supple tannins, and nicely integrated acidity, all making for a beautifully polished, elegant 2019 to drink over the coming 20 years or so.
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Wine Spectator
Lets very dark plum sauce, cassis and boysenberry preserve flavors unfurl over silky tannins, with black tea and a light sanguine hint infusing the finish. What you see is what you get—and it's delicious. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenère.
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.