Château Margaux is one of Bordeaux's most elegant châteaux, situated north of the town of Margaux in the southern Haut-Médoc. Margaux is renowned for its rich, opulent wines – Château Margaux itself, its second wine Pavillon de Rouge and Pavillon de Blanc.
Despite its status, Margaux has a wonderful family feel, lacking the pretension and snobbery that enshrouds other elite Bordeaux châteaux. The key behind Margaux's approach is the partnership between owner Corinne Mentzelopoulos and the long-standing winemaker Paul Pontallier, and there is a great team ethic from the vineyard workers right through to the management..jpg)
Margaux's 70 hectares of vines were first planted in 1680 by the d’Aulèdes family, but the elegant, neo-classical château wasn’t built until the early 1800s. Margaux was classified as a First growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, and the château passed through many aristocrats until in 1977 it settled with Andre Mentzelopoulos.
Mentzelopoulos lavished money and attention on the vineyards and winemaking facilities, bringing in Emile Peynaud as consultant to oversee the vinification of the wine. Unfortunately, Andre didn’t live long enough to see the wine achieve greatness, leaving the running of the estate to his widow Laure and their young daughter Corinne.
Corinne proved to be a quick learner and courageously appointed the relatively inexperienced Pontallier as director in 1983. Pontallier assembled a brilliant team around him – choosing youth and energy over experience. Château Margaux does not subscribe to many of the orthodoxies of modern Bordeaux viticulture and actually employs a member of staff just to ‘question everything’. |
