Experimental Margaux: The 2011 Vintage
Finally, a chance to taste not an experimental cuvée but wines from some of the individual plots of Cabernet Sauvignon that contribute towards the grand vin as well as a Petit Verdot which, although usually a component of Pavillon Rouge will, for the first time, be used for the grand vin in 2011. It is easy to disregard this section of the tasting as incongruous – more of an en primeur opportunity than anything else – but that would be an incorrect conclusion in my opinion. First, these wines are transient and will never exist or be commercialised – the 2011 blend has already been made, and as such the vats cited below have already disappeared into the assemblage. Secondly, Pontallier’s description of his work with Petit Verdot – comparing Margaux cuttings with a widely available clone – is an early facet of his very active research programme.
Petit Verdot is a difficult variety, says Pontallier, harvesting is “a nightmare” in his opinion, but nevertheless he feels its presence can be valuable at times, as long as it is well managed. It should never dominate, and be used “like a spice in the kitchen” to accentuate and highlight rather than control the flavour of the wine. When Pontallier started out he wanted to reinvigorate the role of Petit Verdot at Margaux; at the time the only available clone of Petit Verdot of any merit was clone 400, and this was planted alongside vines propagated by massal selection, using cuttings taken from Margaux vines. The massal vines have turned out to be superior to the clone 400 vines, and whereas the wine tasted here, from the Margaux-propagated vines, will go into the 2011 grand vin, the clone 400 wine will go into Pavillon Rouge.
As for other varieties, there is no Malbec at Margaux, and no Carmenère either. He feels this latter variety is interminably rustic, whether from Chile or Bordeaux. A good example of Carmenère, says Pontallier “is less rustic than a bad one“. I wonder what Christophe Capdeville of Brane-Cantenac – who was very proud of his 2011 Carmenère which I tasted with him last year – would say in response to that?
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