Bordeaux 2007 at Ten Years: Margaux
The appellation of Margaux has a couple of treats in store for us in the 2007 vintage, although looking across the commune as a whole it is clear that the season was no less problematic here than it was elsewhere. We have here the same leaner textures, grainy substances and the wines again demonstrate green, methoxypyrazine-driven elements which are at best minty and herby, and at worst profoundly herbaceous and vegetal. In this, though, the commune has fared no differently to Pauillac or St Julien.
The first treat comes in the shape of the 2007 Château Palmer, the leading wine in the commune. This vintage must have been a challenge for winemaker Thomas Duroux, only recently installed at the estate, in 2004. Both 2004 and 2006 were decent enough vintages, and 2005 was magnificent of course, and so the damp and dreary weather of 2007, with its disease pressure and delayed harvest must have brought him back to earth with a bump. He seems to have risen to the challenge though, because the 2007 from this estate is dark and smoky, but also demonstrates a rare sense of minerality, and a very finely perfumed, floral lift which seems to hint at the more energetic and fragrant confidence the wines of this estate show in much more recent vintages.
The other treat is the 2007 Château Margaux, made by the late Paul Pontallier of course. The wines shows very nicely defined and slightly degraded black fruits, but again the Margaux perfume comes through, all roses and peonies. While it would certainly be a joy to drink now, it could go further in the cellar yet, this also being true of the 2007 Château Palmer of course.
