Winemaker Notes
Blend: 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
One of the most concentrated wines in the vintage, the 2021 Château Marquis D'Alesme still stays balanced and classy. Red and black fruits, graphite, smoked tobacco, and some cedar pencil notes all define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a layered, textured mid-palate, ripe tannins, and a great finish. Based on 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, aged in 60% new barrels, give it just a few years and enjoy over the following 10-12+.
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Vinous
The 2021 Marquis d’Alesme is an elegant, polished wine for the year. Floral and spice notes open first. Dark cherry, plum, spice, menthol, dried herbs, leather and cedar emerge gradually, but it is the wine's balance that impresses most. –Antonio Galloni
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Decanter
Green pepper, vanilla, toast, cola and blueberries - a sense of cool freshness from the start with high acidity to begin with but actually settles where the chalky tannins then do most of the talking. The focus is on the structure right now and despite the bright star the fruit doesn't quite make the end. However, I like the tannic expresion, it's full in the mouth, almost chewy with no dryness or bitterness.
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The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification but it is nonetheless important in regards to history of the area.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.