Winemaker Notes
Blend: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Another top-notch Margaux savvy readers should snatch up is the 2015 Château Marojallia. Which comes from a tiny estate owned by Philippe Porcheron, with the wine made by Muriel Andraud and Jean-Luc Thunevin, with consulting advice from Michel Rolland. From a 70/30 split of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot harvest between September 30th and October 12th, this beauty boasts a thrilling, medium to full-bodied, concentrated personality as well as classic notes of blackcurrants, smoke tobacco, graphite, and flowers. It has the ripe, sexy fruit quality that was easy to get in the vintage, yet also has a stacked mid-palate, notable structure, and terrific purity of fruit. If I had multiple bottles, I’d probably drink one today, yet it should benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and keep for two decades or more.
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Vinous
The 2015 Marojallia is strong. Succulent plum, mocha, lavender and spice flesh out in those deep, plush Margaux. Deep, plush and exotically ripe in the glass, the 2015 is unapologetically flamboyant from start to finish. As good as the 2015s, I feel that, like the Margalaine, a measure of freshness and nuance was lost in aging. I suspect the bottled 2015 would have been closer to the barrel samples had the wine been bottled a bit earlier.
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Wine Spectator
Lush and warm, with captivating blackberry, boysenberry and raspberry compote flavors gliding over a polished structure. Bright violet and lilac notes flash through the finish, which is scored with anise and toasted apple wood details. A beautiful display of fruit.
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James Suckling
Aromatic and bright with currant and flower character. Mushroom undertones. Full-bodied, layered and chewy with lots of ripe tannins and a long, beautiful finish. Powerful. Needs three or four years to soften.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Marojallia, a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, has a clean and pure floral bouquet with rose petal-infused raspberry and crushed strawberry fruit. The oak is nicely integrated here. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, crisp acidity, nicely balanced with quite a structured, maybe short finish that should gain more volume with bottle age. Give this three or four years in bottle because there is wonderful freshness here and a second bottle evidenced more complexity.
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.