Bordeaux 2008 at Ten Years: Margaux
Continuing my review of the 2008 Bordeaux vintage at ten years of age I now move on to present a selection of tasting notes on the wines of Margaux. As I have also done in previous retrospective Bordeaux tastings at this stage, I also throw in here a few stragglers – another five wines in total – from the other left bank appellations, namely Moulis, the Haut-Médoc and the Médoc.
Times were good back in Margaux in 2008. At Château Margaux, Paul Pontallier had been in post for years, working with proprietor Corinne Mentzelopoulos, and together they had driven forward a revitalisation of the estate. While it seems hard to comprehend here in 2018, during the 1970s this had been a failing estate, trading on an ancient reputation. Nevertheless Corinne and Paul saw it restored to its rightful place at the head of the appellation. Meanwhile just next-door, the situation at Château Palmer was quite different. Thomas Duroux, appointed here after returning from stints in California and Tuscany, had only been in post a few years, and his dreams of converting the property to biodynamics – the property was finally certified for the 2013 vintage – had yet to be made real. The wines here were good back in 2008, but in my opinion greater things lay ahead.
