Wine Advisor
Chateau Margaux 1986
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1986 Chateau Margaux is one of the dark horses of the vintage. It has an exquisite bouquet that is now fully mature, with a mixture of red and black fruit, violets, pastilles and hints of cold stone. It blossoms in the glass, gaining intensity all the time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, a more robust Margaux as you would expect given the vintage, clearly with firm backbone, more straight-laced than the 1985 or 1989. Yet there is wonderful delineation and focus here. If you seek strictness and classicism in a wine, then this is the place to come, plus there is superb mineralité and tension on the ferrous finish. Perhaps a little overlooked in recent years, the 1986 Margaux comes highly recommended for those who love the property. This is a wine finally coming of age. Tasted July 2016.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1986 Margaux continues to be the most powerful, tannic, and muscular Margaux made in decades. One wonders if the 1928 or 1945 had as much power and depth as the 1986? The black/ruby/purple color reveals no sign of age. The reluctant nose offers up aromas of smoky, toasty new oak and blackcurrants, as well as a few flowers. The wine is mammoth, with extraordinary extract, superb balance, and a frightfully tannic finish. A Margaux of immense stature, it is made in a masculine, full-bodied style that is in complete contrast to the 1990. It should prove nearly immortal in terms of aging potential, but will it have the awesome potential I first predicted? Anticipated maturity: 2000-2050. Last tasted, 6/93.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
This has a gorgeous, opulent, ravishing nose with blackberries, red cherries a touch of cigar box, vanilla pod and cassis. Damn sexy. The palate is between medium- and full-bodied with vibrant acidity cutting a swathe through those thick chewy tannins. It has a wonderful minerally core, still youthful and vibrant with a voluptuous, glycerin-rich finish inflected with a touch of fresh tobacco. A great Chateau Margaux with years ahead. Drink now-2020+ Tasted November 2006.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Nose soars from the glass: cherries, strawberry, vanilla. Highly perfumed. Completely harmonious on the sumptuous, very ripe palate. There is an exotic appeal to this Margaux: utterly hedonistic. Approachable now but the acidity will see it mature another 10+ years. A really sexy, voluptuous wine. Tasted March 2002.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Tasted 12 Times Since Bottling With Consistent Notes The 1986 Margaux continues to be the most powerful, tannic, and muscular Margaux made in decades. One wonders if the 1928 or 1945 had as much power and depth as the 1986? The black/ruby/purple color reveals no sign of age. The reluctant nose offers up aromas of smoky, toasty new oak and blackcurrants, as well as a few flowers. The wine is mammoth, with extraordinary extract, superb balance, and a frightfully tannic finish. A Margaux of immense stature, it is made in a masculine, full-bodied style that is in complete contrast to the 1990. It should prove nearly immortal in terms of aging potential, but will it have the awesome potential I first predicted? Anticipated maturity: 2000-2050.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A magnificent example of Chateau Margaux and one of the most tannic, backward Margauxs of the last 50 years, the 1986 continues to evolve at a glacial pace. The color is still a dense ruby/purple with just a hint of lightening at the rim. With several hours of aeration, the aromatics become striking, with notes of smoke, toast, creme de cassis, mineral, and white flowers. Very full-bodied, with high but sweet tannin, great purity, and a very masculine, full-bodied style, this wine should prove nearly immortal in terms of its aging potential. It is beginning to budge from its infantile stage and approach adolescence. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2050. Last tasted, 12/02.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The Chateau Margaux 1986 is one of many great wines under Paul Pontallier during the 1980s, perhaps one overlooked compared to the 1982, 1983 or 1985. It has a glorious bouquet of blackberry, truffle, violets and wine gums that gains great volume with continued aeration. The palate is voluminous with great structure and dimension, real substance and power, allied to the finesse that is the signature of this First Growth. It retains that silky, glycerin-rich finish that lacquers the mouth, yet retains immense precision and clarity. This is how First Growth's ought to be. Drink now-2030+ Tasted January 2012.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1986 Margaux continues to be the most powerful, tannic, and muscular Margaux made in decades. One wonders if the 1928 or 1945 had as much power and depth as the 1986? The black/ruby/purple color reveals no sign of age. The reluctant nose offers up aromas of smoky, toasty new oak and black currants, as well as a few flowers. The wine is mammoth, with extraordinary extract, superb balance, and a frightfully tannic finish. This is a Margaux of immense stature, made in a masculine, full-bodied style that is in complete contrast to the 1990. It should prove nearly immortal in terms of aging potential, but will it have the awesome potential I first predicted? Anticipated maturity: 2000-2050. Last tasted 12/96
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the “First Growth” lunch in London. Similar notes to the bottle tasting at El Bulli just a couple of month earlier. It has that wonderful, lascivious nose of cassis, blackberry, liquorices and violets. The palate is dense and structured, ‘grippy’ tannins that just do not let go, exquisite sense of mineralite with that compelling, glycerin-rich finish with touches of damson and tobacco. Superb length. Fabulous. Drink now-2020+ Tasted October 2008.
About the Producer
Chateau Margaux is located in the village of Margaux, in the Medoc appellation on the left bank of Bordeaux, and was awarded a First Growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Medoc classification, alongside Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Latour and Château Haut-Brion. It is also known as Chateau Haut-Brion. Château Margaux currently covers a total of 262 hectares, including 99 hectares of vineyards. The red vineyard has an appellation of 87 hectares, of which 82 hectares are planted, while the white vineyard is planted with 12 hectares. The red varieties are mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc; the white varieties are Sauvignon Blanc and the vines are on average 45 years old. Since the end of the 1990s, the estate has refused to use pesticides in the vineyards. In addition, only organic fertilisers are used in the vineyard, and deep fertilisation is carried out at regular intervals to improve the soil structure and rejuvenate the soil. During the harvest season, the winery team selects the right time to harvest the grapes by testing and analysing all the indicators and by tasting the grapes themselves. Once the grapes have reached their ideal state of ripeness, they are harvested by a team of over 200 trained harvesters. Once in the winery, the grapes undergo a rigorous selection process before being de-stemmed. Both oak barrels and stainless steel tanks are used to ferment the red grapes, while the white grapes are fermented entirely in oak barrels. After the alcoholic fermentation, the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation. The red wines are then left to mature in oak barrels for 18-24 months and the whites for 6-8 months. The main wine of the estate, Château Margaux's red wine, is rich and complex, with an elegant and powerful ballet on the tongue, rich and smooth tannins, good balance and a long, fresh finish with excellent ageing potential. It successfully conquered Napoleon Bonaparte, the founder of the First French Empire, and won the hearts of Thomas Jefferson, the founding father of the United States, and Margaret Thatcher, the "Iron Lady" of England. In the world of wine criticism, Château Margaux's red wines have also been recognised, with four perfect scores from Robert Parker and many more from other critics with 95 points or more. In recent years, the quality of Château Margaux's red wines has been steady and has maintained a high level of interest in the market.
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