Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux (2nd wine of Ch Margaux) 2019

Margaux, Second wine

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Tasting Notes
The 2019 Pavillon Rouge has a more austere bouquet than its peers, nuanced yet still well-defined, taut with black fruit laced with pencil shavings and freshly rolled tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, pliant and rounded, smooth and harmonious though not satin-like…there is still a bit of grit on the finish. It builds and opens nicely in the glass - a serious and quite compelling Deuxième Vin. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. Score: 94 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2026-2045 01 February 2023
The 2019 Pavillon Rouge is certainly more immediate on the nose compared to the sample I tasted chez moi last year. It now bursts from the glass with black fruit and crushed violets, maybe less of the seaweed-like tincture I noticed from barrel, but beautifully defined. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy black fruit on the entry, hints of licorice infusing the black fruit, fine salinity, and a well-defined, structured, graphite-tinged finish. It will still require four to five years in bottle but should drink well for 12 to 15 years. Score: 92 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2040 01 February 2022
The 2019 Pavillon Rouge is definitely one sample that repays aeration, initially very tight and unresponsive. It then begins to unfurl, revealing introverted black fruit laced with sea spray and light Japanese nori scents. It is well defined and detailed, yet never becomes as expressive as some of its peers. The palate is very well balanced with very fine tannins. This is clearly more "open for business" and what I really admire is that tang of salinity towards the finish, almost as if compensating for the bashful aromatics. Very fine, though it will require four or five years in bottle. Score: 91 - 93 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2040 16 June 2020
Given that Margaux's second wine contains plenty of fruit that made it into the grand vin just a decade or two ago, great things are to be expected from this bottling. Yet I was nonetheless taken aback by the quality of the 2019 Pavillon Rouge. Wafting from the glass with aromas of raspberries, plums and cherries mingled with rose petals and sweet spices, it's medium to full-bodied, sensual and concentrated, with beautifully refined tannins, racy acids and a long, penetrating finish. This is an exquisite Pavillon Rouge that is well worth seeking out. I confess that I don't buy many second wines, but I did purchase a case of this, with alacrity, right after tasting it. Score: 95 William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2025-2050 07 April 2022
The 2019 Pavillon Rouge is shockingly opulent and creamy. Silky, ripe tannins give the 2019 such a gorgeous sense of immediacy. Succulent red cherry, red plum, spice, new leather and incense are pushed forward. There is terrific energy here and yet the 2019 is already incredibly delicious and approachable. Score: 93 Antonio Galloni, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2024-2039 01 February 2022
A gorgeous wine, the 2019 Pavillon Rouge represents 27% of the crop. All of the radiance of the year is on display. Super-ripe red cherry, red plum, spice, cedar and new leather are all kicked up a few notches, with silky tannins that wrap it all together. Even with all of its obvious richness, the 2019 possesses notable energy as well as freshness. Estate Manager Philippe Bascaules and his team turned out two spectacular wines in 2019. Note: I did not taste the Pavillon Blanc, as the estate thought it was too fragile to ship. Bascaules describes 2019 as an easy vintage. Flowering was normal and set was good. Yields came in at a healthy 47 hectoliters per hectare, more than 2017 or 2018, the summer heat spikes notwithstanding. Bascaules opted to pick the Merlot early and gave those lots a very gentle extractions at low temperatures, whereas the Cabernet Sauvignon vinifications were a much more typical 20-22 days at 28-30 degrees Celsius. In tasting, the 2019s have more tannins than any other vintage, with the exception of 2018, and yet the wines don't show that at all. Score: 92 - 94 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 01 June 2020
Classically balanced Pavillon Rouge, fairly restrained in its fruits, good tannic structure, very much on the plum and bilberry fruits. There is a lovely balance here, with freshness, less exuberant than the 2018 yet with a quiet sense of building and delivering momentum. As it opens, rose petal and peony aromatics begin to hover above the glass, enticing you in. There is a lot going on here, and it's a successful wine with juicy perfumed fruit. 27% of total production, 47hl/ha yield. Score: 94 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2028-2048 12 January 2022
Packed with spice and fruit on the nose, this grips you and lifts off. A great mid palate with juicy, enrobed tannins and seductive fleshy fruit in the mouth. Makes you smile, enticingly creamy and yet with sappy slate on the finish. One of the best Pavillon Rouge for years. 27% of overall production in Pavillon. 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. A yield of 47hl/ha, (compared to 30hl/ha last year). Tannin index of 75 IPT so higher than 2009, 2010, 2016 (only 2018 higher). Score: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2025 - 2040 20 May 2020
The 2019 Pavillon Rouge is a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, accounting for 47% of the crop. The alcohol came in at 14.2%, the IPT was 75, and the pH was 3.66. Deep garnet-purple in color, it begins a little closed and broody, soon unfurling to offer notes of tar, black licorice, cracked peppercorns and woodsmoke over a core of Morello cherries, boysenberries and warm cassis plus an earthy touch of forest floor. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant, refreshing and wonderfully refined, with beautifully ripe, plush tannins and impressive freshness lifting the black fruit and earthy layers with a long finish. It should age beautifully! Score: 92 - 94 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com 18 June 2020
Starting with the second wine of this great estate, the 2019 Château Margaux Pavillon Rouge reveals a saturated purple color as well as young, unevolved notes of blue and black fruits, unsmoked tobacco, chocolate, and spring flowers. It has a wonderful freshness and purity yet is still a rich, powerful wine. Full-bodied, concentrated yet seamless, it's an incredible second wine and possibly the finest Pavillon Rouge I've tasted. Score: 94 - 96 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com 11 June 2020
Succulent and gorgeous with such supple tannins, yet it’s full bodied and very rich. It’s very savory, too. Dense, yet polished on the palate, showing fresh, minerally and salty notes. You want to drink it already. 27% of the crop and a blend of 76% cabernet sauvignon and 19% merlot, the rest petit verdot and cabernet franc. Score: 96 - 97 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 03 June 2020

Tasting Notes

The 2019 Pavillon Rouge has a more austere bouquet than its peers, nuanced yet still well-defined, taut with black fruit laced with pencil shavings and freshly rolled tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, pliant and rounded, smooth and harmonious though not satin-like…there is still a bit of grit on the finish. It builds and opens nicely in the glass - a serious and quite compelling Deuxième Vin. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

Score: 94

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2026-2045 01 February 2023

The 2019 Pavillon Rouge is certainly more immediate on the nose compared to the sample I tasted chez moi last year. It now bursts from the glass with black fruit and crushed violets, maybe less of the seaweed-like tincture I noticed from barrel, but beautifully defined. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy black fruit on the entry, hints of licorice infusing the black fruit, fine salinity, and a well-defined, structured, graphite-tinged finish. It will still require four to five years in bottle but should drink well for 12 to 15 years.

Score: 92

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2040 01 February 2022

The 2019 Pavillon Rouge is definitely one sample that repays aeration, initially very tight and unresponsive. It then begins to unfurl, revealing introverted black fruit laced with sea spray and light Japanese nori scents. It is well defined and detailed, yet never becomes as expressive as some of its peers. The palate is very well balanced with very fine tannins. This is clearly more "open for business" and what I really admire is that tang of salinity towards the finish, almost as if compensating for the bashful aromatics. Very fine, though it will require four or five years in bottle.

Score: 91 - 93

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2040 16 June 2020

Given that Margaux's second wine contains plenty of fruit that made it into the grand vin just a decade or two ago, great things are to be expected from this bottling. Yet I was nonetheless taken aback by the quality of the 2019 Pavillon Rouge. Wafting from the glass with aromas of raspberries, plums and cherries mingled with rose petals and sweet spices, it's medium to full-bodied, sensual and concentrated, with beautifully refined tannins, racy acids and a long, penetrating finish. This is an exquisite Pavillon Rouge that is well worth seeking out. I confess that I don't buy many second wines, but I did purchase a case of this, with alacrity, right after tasting it.

Score: 95

William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2025-2050 07 April 2022

The 2019 Pavillon Rouge is shockingly opulent and creamy. Silky, ripe tannins give the 2019 such a gorgeous sense of immediacy. Succulent red cherry, red plum, spice, new leather and incense are pushed forward. There is terrific energy here and yet the 2019 is already incredibly delicious and approachable.

Score: 93

Antonio Galloni, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2024-2039 01 February 2022

A gorgeous wine, the 2019 Pavillon Rouge represents 27% of the crop. All of the radiance of the year is on display. Super-ripe red cherry, red plum, spice, cedar and new leather are all kicked up a few notches, with silky tannins that wrap it all together. Even with all of its obvious richness, the 2019 possesses notable energy as well as freshness. Estate Manager Philippe Bascaules and his team turned out two spectacular wines in 2019. Note: I did not taste the Pavillon Blanc, as the estate thought it was too fragile to ship. Bascaules describes 2019 as an easy vintage. Flowering was normal and set was good. Yields came in at a healthy 47 hectoliters per hectare, more than 2017 or 2018, the summer heat spikes notwithstanding. Bascaules opted to pick the Merlot early and gave those lots a very gentle extractions at low temperatures, whereas the Cabernet Sauvignon vinifications were a much more typical 20-22 days at 28-30 degrees Celsius. In tasting, the 2019s have more tannins than any other vintage, with the exception of 2018, and yet the wines don't show that at all.

Score: 92 - 94

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 01 June 2020

Classically balanced Pavillon Rouge, fairly restrained in its fruits, good tannic structure, very much on the plum and bilberry fruits. There is a lovely balance here, with freshness, less exuberant than the 2018 yet with a quiet sense of building and delivering momentum. As it opens, rose petal and peony aromatics begin to hover above the glass, enticing you in. There is a lot going on here, and it's a successful wine with juicy perfumed fruit. 27% of total production, 47hl/ha yield.

Score: 94

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2028-2048 12 January 2022

Packed with spice and fruit on the nose, this grips you and lifts off. A great mid palate with juicy, enrobed tannins and seductive fleshy fruit in the mouth. Makes you smile, enticingly creamy and yet with sappy slate on the finish. One of the best Pavillon Rouge for years. 27% of overall production in Pavillon. 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. A yield of 47hl/ha, (compared to 30hl/ha last year). Tannin index of 75 IPT so higher than 2009, 2010, 2016 (only 2018 higher).

Score: 94

Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2025 - 2040 20 May 2020

The 2019 Pavillon Rouge is a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, accounting for 47% of the crop. The alcohol came in at 14.2%, the IPT was 75, and the pH was 3.66. Deep garnet-purple in color, it begins a little closed and broody, soon unfurling to offer notes of tar, black licorice, cracked peppercorns and woodsmoke over a core of Morello cherries, boysenberries and warm cassis plus an earthy touch of forest floor. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant, refreshing and wonderfully refined, with beautifully ripe, plush tannins and impressive freshness lifting the black fruit and earthy layers with a long finish. It should age beautifully!

Score: 92 - 94

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com 18 June 2020

Starting with the second wine of this great estate, the 2019 Château Margaux Pavillon Rouge reveals a saturated purple color as well as young, unevolved notes of blue and black fruits, unsmoked tobacco, chocolate, and spring flowers. It has a wonderful freshness and purity yet is still a rich, powerful wine. Full-bodied, concentrated yet seamless, it's an incredible second wine and possibly the finest Pavillon Rouge I've tasted.

Score: 94 - 96

Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com 11 June 2020

Succulent and gorgeous with such supple tannins, yet it’s full bodied and very rich. It’s very savory, too. Dense, yet polished on the palate, showing fresh, minerally and salty notes. You want to drink it already. 27% of the crop and a blend of 76% cabernet sauvignon and 19% merlot, the rest petit verdot and cabernet franc.

Score: 96 - 97

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 03 June 2020

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