Chateau Malescot St. Exupery (5 Liter Bottle) 2018
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Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesA seductive Margaux with an intense nose of black fruit and red plums. Some herb and wood notes, too. It’s full-bodied with pretty, pure-berry flavors with some crushed stones and cement. The texture is silky and fine-grained and the tannins melt into the wine. Precise, flavorful finish with length. Try after 2024.
Tasted twice and showing incredibly well both times, the 2018 Château Malescot Saint-Exupery comes from a 28-hectare vineyard in the heart of Margaux and is a rough blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. This full-bodied Margaux has everything you could want from this appellation, offering incredibly complex notes of cassis, tobacco, earth, and spice, full body, sweet tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. It’s an incredibly sexy, flawlessly balanced beauty that’s going to be relatively approachable in its youth yet age effortlessly on its balance and purity. Barrel Sample: 94-96
Lovely, with gently mulled plum, blackberry and black currant fruit sailing through atop a velvety structure while mouthwatering bay, black tea and iron notes flow underneath. Seductive, detailed finish lets a sanguine note echo longest. Gorgeous wine. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2023 through 2036.
The medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2018 Malescot St. Exupery leaps from the glass with expressive scents of baked blackberries, Morello cherries and boysenberries with hints of blackcurrant cordial, dark chocolate, licorice and tilled soil. The medium to full-bodied palate has impressive intensity without heaviness, delivering mouth-coating black fruits and a firm, grainy texture, finishing with a refreshing earthy lift.
This is a fruity and structured wine. With its dusty tannins and promising firm core, it has the texture for aging. Fruitiness gives it the potential to mature into a poised and sophisticated wine. Drink from 2026.
Malescot is always a relatively modern style, and it stays true to form in 2018. It's an enjoyable, high energy wine but it doesn't quite reach the heights of its 2016. It's a rich damson colour, with plump fruit on the attack. The oak impact is a little forced, and this is clearly aiming for vibrancy and character. 5% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Drinking Window 2026 - 2038. Barrel Sample: 93
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.
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.