Winemaker Notes
Blend: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This elegant wine has a balanced density that comes from the firm layer of tannins. Its situation in the southern Médoc gives it a final softness and balance.
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James Suckling
Currants and blackberries on the nose, with lemon rind, cloves and dried herbs, too. Sleek and refined on the palate with a medium body, fine-grained tannins and a focused, bright finish. Elegant this year. Drink from 2025.
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Decanter
Expressive and open nose. Concentrated and lively fruit here with just a touch of smoked earth to the black cherry and blueberry fruits. Well presented, clean and crisp, this has a nice purity to the texture, smooth and sleek with juicy tannins that fill the mouth giving a mouthwatering brightness. Lots of joy to this as well as being serious with a proper backbone all the way through. I like the styling here! Feels gently decadent and confident. Refined though still with a fruity and fresh lift at the end.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The healthy ruby/plum-hued 2021 Château Prieuré-Lichine checks in as 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot. It has solid depth and intensity in its red and black fruits as well notes of smoke tobacco, earth, and chocolate. As with most 2021s, it's not massive, but this has good mid-palate density, a ripe, rounded mouthfeel, and velvety tannins. It's already delicious but should evolve for 10-12 years and, I suspect, have a gradual decline thereafter.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Offering up aromas of dark berries, orange confit, cola and mint, the 2021 Prieuré-Lichine is medium to full-bodied, fleshy and round, with decent depth at the core, powdery tannins and a front-loaded style that will offer near-term appeal.
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.