Château Margaux

Château Margaux, 1er Cru Classé, Margaux, 2011

Name: Château Margaux, 1er Cru Classé, Margaux
Brand: Château Margaux
Price: 4361.47 GBP

96/100

The Wine Independent

93/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

delivery

in bond

Broking

2011
12x75cl
DP
£4,361.47

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

Paul Pontallier attested to being delighted with the 2011. His 'only disappointment is the quantity... The growing season was so dry, which resulted in tiny berries, and a crop 25% smaller than in 2010'. The harvest began on the 5th of September (for the reds), which is the earliest since 1983 and the fruit had a good density and maturity, yet retained real freshness due to the cool maturation period in August. Paul likens the 2011 to the 1996 and the 2008, but believes that it has greater density. With yields of 29hl/ha, one is not surprised to find a concentrated wine. Glorious perfume with flowers, liquorice, dark berries and crushed stones; there is great depth and concentration here. Pure, vivid cassis and loganberry fruit coats the palate. Although this is dense, it is never thick or heavy and the tannins are both refined and sumptuous. Dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon (86%), Merlot plays a supporting role with 10% of the blend, whilst Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc account for just 2% each. This is not a wine to be overlooked - it may not have the upfront appeal of some of the other First Growths, but this reserved beauty is a complete wine, which will develop and delight with time in bottle.

delivery information

GUARANTEED PROVENANCE

Provenance in fine wine

When it comes to purchasing wine, provenance is of upmost importance. A wine’s history – where it’s sourced from and how it’s been stored – can have an enormous influence on the eventual enjoyment it provides. At Justerini & Brooks, we can trace nearly every case back to the domaine, estate or Château it originally came from; we ship from over 200 wine producers throughout the world.

Wines not bought directly from the vineyard are either sourced from trusted suppliers, with whom we share the same philosophy and rigour in buying, or from our own network of Cellarers customers. These customers’ wines are stored in optimal conditions in Octavian Corsham and, in the vast majority of cases, have been stored by us since the wine was first shipped. We do not purchase wine from auctions.

We feel it is equally important to for our customers that the case they buy and leave in storage with us is exactly the same case they subsequently have delivered. This may sound obvious and straightforward, yet we are one of very few merchants to have taken measures to ensure this.

We have created a system where every case is independent, thereby ensuring a trail of ownership and peace of mind for every customer.

The Journey

Justerinis ensures that every case of wine stored with Cellarers (Wines) Ltd has a unique identifier and customer’s name, almost unheard of in the industry as it is expensive to administer. These details are printed and placed on every case which is logged and recorded under your account name and kept in the world’s most renowned storage facility, Octavian Corsham.

This information is sent from our systems to the warehouse every day to ensure the trail of ownership is verified and upheld.

While customer reserves are stored in Corsham, our physical stocks are kept in Hoddesdon, further providing a geographical separation between customers’ wines with Cellarers and Justerinis’ own stock.

Further Reassurance

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is a legally separate limited company from Justerini & Brooks which currently holds approximately £450 million worth of customer reserves. It is fully insured to catastrophic loss. Many merchants will state that wine in their care is fully insured, but in reality this is on an individual case basis with insufficient cover for total loss as this is prohibitively expensive. The cover provided by Octavian and Justerini & Brooks is unmatched.

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is audited by PwC every year.

Critic Reviews

96/100

Lisa Perrotti-Brown,

The Wine Independent

The 2011 Chateau Margaux is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. It was quite a warm vintage and the earliest harvest since 1893, starting on the 5th of September, with very small, concentrated berries. "Like a young version of the 1995, it needed time for the tannins to soften," commented winemaker Philippe Bascaules. It has a deep garnet color and shoots out of the glass with notes of plum preserves, blackcurrant pastilles, and boysenberry preserves, leading to hints of black tea, star anise, clove oil, and cardamom, with a touch of menthol. The medium-bodied palate is packed with layers of evocative black and red berry preserves, supported by plush tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and spicy.

drinking window 2024 - 2044

date of review 11/2024

93/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

The 2011 Château Margaux has a more open-knit bouquet with brambly red fruit than its peers with notes of sage, leather and tobacco, perhaps a little more animally than its peers? The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannins on the entry, plenty of tobacco-stained black fruit, pencil box and white pepper, fanning out with confidence on the finish that has just a little dryness. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.

drinking window 2022 - 2045

date of review 04/2022

product details

Specifications

Country:

Region:

Appellation:

Producer:

style:

Grape Variety:

abv:

12.5%

allergen information

This product may contain sulphites. Full allergen information is available upon request, please call our Customer Relations Team on +44 (0)20 7484 6430.