Top Margaux 2018 wines: Re-tasted in the bottle
Jane Anson has tasted hundreds of recently-bottled Bordeaux 2018 wines and here we bring you her top scorers and summary from the Margaux appellation.
Scroll down to see Jane Anson’s Margaux 2018 top scorers
See the full Bordeaux 2018 report here
See individual appellation overviews for:
St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St-Julien, Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Listrac, Moulis and Pessac-Léognan & Graves
Summer in 2018 was the hottest in Margaux since 2003 and this was the appellation that I felt had the most issues over ageing in barrel.
It is definitely a broad-shouldered, concentrated vintage in Margaux. Having said that, there were many gourmet wines that will find happy homes – coffee and cocoa were flavours that I kept coming back to.
Those who carefully monitored extraction during maceration and ageing delivered brilliant bottles.
My highlighted wines include Palmer, d’Issan and Rauzan-Ségla, while Château Margaux itself was also a notable success across all three of its wines.
Second wines as a whole suffered more than the main estate bottlings in the Margaux appellation, and I would tread more carefully here.
Two top names to look out for:
- Château Palmer
- Château Cantenac Brown
Two value picks:
- Château Deyrem Valentin
- Château Grand Tayac
See Jane Anson’s top-scoring Margaux 2018 wines
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Full report on Bordeaux 2018 in the bottle
Top Bordeaux 2018 Left Bank wines in the bottle
Top Bordeaux 2018 Right Bank wines report
Château Palmer, Margaux, 3ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
Beautifully rich even on the nose, this makes you smile from the first moment. On the palate things are intense and concentrated, as you might...
2018
Château PalmerMargaux
Château Margaux, Margaux, 1er Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
This is extremely powerful, with high tannin levels that are beautifully velvety and a real presence that is going to need a good 15 years...
2018
Château MargauxMargaux
Château Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
I very much enjoyed this en primeur and I am happy to see it living up to billing. There is real nuance here, with a...
2018
Château Rauzan-SéglaMargaux
Château Brane-Cantenac, Margaux, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
Deep and generous blackberry fruits and rich chocolate, there is good balance here with depth and interest and a ton of flavour. Really good stuff,...
2018
Château Brane-CantenacMargaux
Château d'Issan, Margaux, 3ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
Well-balanced, fleshed out by redcurrant, raspberry and black cherry fruits. There is tannic build-up, gently layering but adding up to quite the wall at this...
2018
Château d'IssanMargaux
Château Durfort-Vivens, Margaux, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
I loved this en primeur and love it now, in its concentration and depth but also its ability to rise towards the finish and keep...
2018
Château Durfort-VivensMargaux
Château Cantenac Brown, Margaux, 3ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
This has a lot of elegance even though it is a powerful wine; there is a lovely lifting freshness through the palate along with ripples...
2018
Château Cantenac BrownMargaux
Château Prieuré-Lichine, Margaux, 4ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
Power, character and succulence abound with well-handled cassis and damson fruits. This is good-quality with chocolate shavings, silky tannins and a heavily spiced finish. A...
2018
Château Prieuré-LichineMargaux
Château Margaux, Pavillon Rouge, Margaux, Bordeaux, France, 2018
Tight, bright firm fruits, packed with finely tuned tannins, with a clear velvety texture. The highest tannin levels they have ever produced in Pavillon Rouge,...
2018
Château MargauxMargaux
Château Siran, Margaux, Bordeaux, France, 2018
Youthful, plush and opulent, boasting concentrated aromas of ripe black berry fruit, violet lift and fresh cedar oak spice. The well-structured palate supports fleshy black...
2018
Château SiranMargaux
Château Lascombes, Margaux, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
Lovely grilled fruit here; super enjoyable, suave and good quality, with depth and interest through the palate. Fully ripe fruit notes of figs and damson...
2018
Château LascombesMargaux
Château Giscours, Margaux, 3ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
Brushed damson, fine but firm tannins, lots of dark deep fruits and powerful oak that slightly detracts from appellation typicity. This is confident and good-quality...
2018
Château GiscoursMargaux
Château Malescot St Exupéry, Margaux, 3ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
Confident and balanced. This is enjoyable, with enough graphite and chocolate shavings to ensure a gourmet take on the vintage, but not going over the...
2018
Château Malescot St ExupéryMargaux
Château Dauzac, Margaux, 4ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
Opens to a wall of tannins alongside black spicy fruits, black pepper and fresh acidity. Architectural overall. A trace of heat on the finish detracts...
2018
Château DauzacMargaux
Château Boyd-Cantenac, Margaux, 4ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2018
With lovely grilled oak and smoke, this has nuance and character. Deep fruits, touches of elegance and sense of forward motion and pleasure. For me...
2018
Château Boyd-CantenacMargaux
Château Deyrem-Valentin, Margaux, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur, Bordeaux, France, 2018
This is good-quality. Fresh acidity gives a strong lift on the finish, all backed up by fruit, spice and tannins. Will age well and has...
2018
Château Deyrem-ValentinMargaux
