Winemaker Notes
The Chateau Malescot St. Exupery is a dark color with a fine crimson tint. The wine offers notes of ripe fruit, mocha and vanilla along with powerful yet harmonious and smooth tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This estate, which has continued to impress me in recent years, hit a home run in 2000. Showing slightly better than I rated it previously, this wine is deep bluish/purple with some lightening at the edge, and its floral nose displays notes of melted licorice, crushed rock, blueberries and black raspberries. A wine of extraordinary balance, equilibrium, and purity, with supple tannins, this medium to full-bodied, concentrated effort is already compelling and has hit its window of full maturity, where it should stay for another 15-20 years.
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Wine Spectator
Intense aromas of crushed berries, earth, meat and spice. Full-bodied, with super well-integrated tannins and a long, green tobacco and berry finish. This is an estate on the rise. Superfine. Almost forgotten by some.
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The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification but it is nonetheless important in regards to history of the area.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.