Chateau Margaux Pavillon Blanc 2018
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
As everyone knows, the harvest date influences a wine’s aromatic and structural profile. In order to select the "right time" to harvest, we pay a lot of attention to the current physiological criteria. In 2018, considering the relatively high water stress in our Virefougasse vineyards and long periods of sunshine, acidity was the key parameter in our decision. Our aim is to add freshness to our Pavillon Blanc and thus give it every chance to age well over time. The sun, combined with low yields, resulted in satisfactory grape sugar levels which developed pleasant and complex aromas. We therefore began the harvest early which took place from the 27th to 31st of August. Although our aim remains to choose the best batches from our vineyard selections, tasting revealed greater homogeneity, and we were able to use a higher proportion of batches than for previous vintages with almost half of the harvest making up the Pavillon Blanc 2018. This vintage, for which the weather conditions seemed less favourable to the production of fine white wines than in 2017, maintains our rigorous standards and reflects the style of the white wines we have been producing for nearly a decade.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I'd say the finest white I've ever tasted from this estate, the 2018 Château Margaux Pavillon Blanc is all Sauvignon brought all in barrel. Its vivid gold hue is followed by an incredible bouquet of candied lemons, white grapefruit, crushed stone-like minerality, and a rich, flower oil-like character that develops with time in the glass. Medium to full-bodied, racy, yet incredibly concentrated, with serious extract, richness, and glycerol, it has an almost red wine-like sense of structure and length. Whites in 2018 don't get any better than this. Enjoy this sensational white any time over the coming 15-20 years.
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James Suckling
A dynamic dry white with lemon rind, pears and sherbet, as well as vanilla and lilac character. It’s full-bodied with a tight, focused palate of lovely ripe fruit and vivid acidity. Timid, yet classy at the finish. Energetic acidity. 1,000 cases made. Try after 2023.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: If one white wine can stand on the stage alone, it is the 2017 Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux: it is a magnificent wine. TASTING NOTES: This wine has the precision of an artist. Its concentrated and focused aromas and flavors of green apple and mineral go beyond those descriptors. Time in the cellar will bring all of its hidden elements into focus, and the wine will perform its perfect solo performance. (Tasted: October 25, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
This ripples with tension as the core of gooseberry, chalk, white asparagus and fleur de sel is chiseled and taut while the sides of the wine glisten with floral notes. There's a late flurry of thyme and tarragon for additional range and length, as if it needed any. About as pure and unencumbered an expression of a grape as you can get. Drink now through 2028.
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Decanter
Just gorgeous aromatics, gripping and arresting, with clear cut apricot and nectarine flesh on the nose. The kind of wine where you smell the texture before it gets anywhere near your mouth. With a beautifully smoky edge, this is juicy and well-balanced. Again, this grip that you have in all three Margaux wines in this vintage. Just the right amount of fleshy mouthfeel and knife-edge freshness. Concentrated but they have handled it so well that there is still a ton of juice running through the palate. Drinking Window 2022 - 2036
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As mentioned during my barrel tasting of this wine, the 2018 Pavillon Blanc is made of 100% Sauvignon Blanc that was picked at the end of August. The vines here are 40-50 years old, going some way to helping them cope with periods of extreme heat and drought, as was the case in 2018. The nose begins a little reticent, requiring a fair bit of swirling to unlock youthful, pristine notes of freshly squeezed limes, lemon tart and fresh grapefruit with touches of sea spray, green mango and acacia with a waft of crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate delivers a seriously racy backbone of acidity, supporting the super intense citrus and chalky flavors layers, finishing long with great purity. It will require a good 4-5 years in bottle to emerge from this shell and should drink for a good 15 years or more beyond that.
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Wine Enthusiast
From a vineyard to the west of the main Margaux estate, this 100% Sauvignon Blanc is rich, packed with yellow fruits as well as a straight line of citrus. Wood aged, it shows toastiness that underlines the richness and ripe fruit. While the wine can be drunk now, that would be a shame because it will be so much better from 2022.
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Chateau Margaux, a Premier Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux, is one of the most famous wines in the world. Care has been lavished on the property by a line of owners with an abiding concern for the reputation of the estate.
For more than five hundred years, season after season, generations of vineyard-workers, grapeharvesters, cellar-workers, coopers and many other craftsmen have all played a part in making Chateau Margaux what it is today: a wine with an incomparable personality, reflected in the elegant Palladian building which adorns its label. In 1977, the estate was purchased by the late André Mentzelopoulos, and it is now run by his daughter, Corinne Mentzelopoulos.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
One of the most important wine regions of the world, Bordeaux is a powerhouse producer of wines of all colors, sweetness levels, and price points. Separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a coastal pine forest, this relatively flat region has a mild maritime climate, marked by cool wet winters and warm summers. Annual weather differences create significant vintage variations, making Bordeaux an exciting French wine region to follow.
The Gironde estuary, a defining feature of Bordeaux, separates most of the region into the Left Bank and the Right Bank. Farther inland, where the Gironde splits into the Garonne and Dordogne Rivers, the bucolic, rolling hills of the area in between, called Entre-Deux-Mers, is a source of great quality, approachable reds and whites.
The Left Bank, dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, contains the Médoc, Graves, and Sauternes, as well as the region’s most famous chateaux. Merlot is important here as the perfect blending grape for Cabernet Sauvignon adding plush fruit and softening Cabernet's sometimes hefty tannins. Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec may also be used in the Left Bank Bordeaux wine blends.
Merlot is the principal Bordeaux wine variety of the Right Bank; Cabernet Franc adds structure and complexity to Merlot, creating wines that are concentrated, supple, and more imminently ready for drinking, compared with their Left Bank counterparts. Key appellations of the Right Bank include St. Emilion and Pomerol.
Dry and sweet Bordeaux white wines are produced throughout the region from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and sometimes Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris. Some of the finest dry whites can be found in the Graves sub-appellation of Pessac-Léognan, while Sauternes is undisputedly the gold standard for sweet wines. Small amounts of rosé and sparkling Bordeaux wines are made in the region as well.