Four decades of Château Margaux: A Decanter Fine Wine Encounter Masterclass

At Decanter’s Fine Wine Encounter, few masterclasses feel quite as electrifying as Château Margaux. Yet tasting nearly four decades of the Bordeaux first growth’s wines alongside a member of the owning family remains a rare privilege.

Led by Alexis Leven-Mentzelopoulos, Château Margaux’s CEO and the third generation of his family to steward the estate, the special occasion offered not just a vertical tasting, but a window into time, place and precision.

From the outset, Leven-Mentzelopoulos set the tone by anchoring Margaux firmly in history. Although classified as a Premier Grand Cru Classé in 1855, the estate’s roots stretch back far earlier, with vines planted on the gravel mound of La Mothe de Margaux from the 16th century.

Ownership has changed many times, but the modern era began in 1977, when Leven-Mentzelopoulos’ grandfather, André Mentzelopoulos, purchased the estate after it had languished on the market for two years.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for all eight wines from the Château Margaux masterclass

‘Nobody really wanted the estate at the time,’ Leven-Mentzelopoulos recalled. ‘The 1970s were difficult years – economically, and in terms of vintages. But my grandfather immediately understood the potential, and also the scale of the investment that would be needed.’

That investment was swift and decisive: replanting vineyards, restoring cellars and renovating the château itself under historic monument supervision.

André Mentzelopoulos would not live to see the full renaissance he set in motion, passing away in 1980, but his daughter Corinne – then just 27 – took over and led the estate for more than four decades.

Leven-Mentzelopoulos officially assumed the CEO role at the end of 2023, working alongside his sister Alexandra, president of the supervisory board.

‘We are still very much a family business,’ he said. ‘One family, one estate, one obsession.’

Precision over volume

One theme that recurred throughout the masterclass was selection. Château Margaux today produces roughly half the volume it did in the 1980s, with just 100,000 to 120,000 bottles of the grand vin in most vintages.

‘In the past, up to 75% of the harvest went into Château Margaux,’ Leven-Mentzelopoulos explained. ‘Today, it’s closer to 35-40%. That changes everything.’

The opening of the new gravity-fed winery in 2015, designed by Lord Norman Foster, was a crucial step in this evolution. With close to 100 individual vats, the team can vinify parcels with extraordinary precision, sometimes dividing a single plot into multiple lots based on subtle differences in soil or exposure.

Alongside this sits one of Bordeaux’s most quietly ambitious research and development programmes. Established in 1999, the R&D team now oversees thousands of experimental bottles exploring rootstocks, pruning systems, fermentation techniques, ageing vessels and closures.

‘If we change something,’ Leven-Mentzelopoulos stressed, ‘it’s never for fashion or marketing. It’s because we have years of tasting and scientific evidence behind us.’

Whites with history – and a future

The tasting opened with Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux, a wine with over 300 years of history and a singular identity in Bordeaux. Always 100% Sauvignon Blanc, drawn from around 11 hectares, Pavillon Blanc is as much about texture as it is about freshness.

‘Our objective is to make a wine that is very concentrated and mature, but at the same time elegant and fresh,’ Leven-Mentzelopoulos said. ‘Acidity and fatness together – not one without the other.’

The contrast between the youthful 2018 and the reconditioned 1996 illustrated both the wine’s ageing potential and the estate’s evolving approach. Only around one third of the harvest now makes it into Pavillon Blanc, with the remainder either sold off or, since 2022, bottled as a second white.

The 1996, served after re-corking under nitrogen, was luminous rather than tired, offering honeyed, citrus-peel complexity without oxidative heaviness.

‘It shows what Pavillon Blanc can become,’ Leven-Mentzelopoulos noted. ‘Not oxidised, just transformed.’

A hierarchy defined by tasting

Moving to the reds, Margaux du Château Margaux 2018 – the estate’s third wine – demonstrated how increased selection has reshaped the hierarchy. First released with the 2009 vintage, it was created to preserve quality that would previously have been sold in bulk.

‘Every grape is treated the same at harvest,’ Leven-Mentzelopoulos explained. ‘Only tasting decides what goes where.’

The 2018 was supple, fragrant and immediately appealing, a warm-vintage wine with lift and charm. It was followed by Pavillon Rouge 2009, the estate’s historic second wine, first named in 1908.

‘Pavillon Rouge today is very close to what Château Margaux was 20 or 30 years ago,’ Leven-Mentzelopoulos said. ‘That’s how much the level has risen.’

The grand vin through the decades

The heart of the masterclass lay in the sequence of Château Margaux vintages themselves, each illustrating a different expression of the estate’s DNA.

The 2009, from a warm, dry year, showed depth and generosity, yet with the signature Margaux perfume intact. ‘It’s giving enormous pleasure now,’ Leven-Mentzelopoulos said, ‘but it’s only at the beginning.’

By contrast, 1999 – often overshadowed by 2000 – offered delicacy and immediate charm. Quoting former director Paul Pontallier, Leven-Mentzelopoulos described it as ‘a candy that melts in your mouth’.

The shift into the 1980s brought a palpable hush to the room. The 1989, harvested unusually early in mid-September, combined power with silkiness. ‘People sometimes say Margaux has fewer tannins,’ Leven-Mentzelopoulos remarked. ‘That’s not true. They’re just better integrated.’

The final wine, 1985, was the most emotional pour – and my top pick – of the afternoon. Elegant rather than imposing, it underlined a core message of the masterclass: greatness at Margaux is not about force.

‘A good wine gives pleasure,’ Leven-Mentzelopoulos said resoundingly. ‘A great wine gives emotion.’

Looking ahead

Despite the weight of history, the session ended firmly focused on the future. Trials with Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and even small plantings of Malbec and Carménère reflect a long-term response to climate change, alongside earlier harvesting and ever finer extraction.

‘We are proud of our history,’ Leven-Mentzelopoulos concluded, ‘but we never want to rest on our laurels. Everything we do is for the next 30 or 40 years.’

Tasting these wines, it was hard to doubt that Margaux’s long view remains one of its greatest strengths.

Watch the video highlights from Decanter’s Singapore Encounter featuring Alexis

Tasting four decades of Château Margaux:

Wines are listed in the order they were tasted

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