2001 Chateau Margaux, Margaux, Bottle (750ml) [Slightly Marked Label]

JA97 "Right now, at 20 years old, this wine is approaching its perfect drinking beginning - by which I mean it is now stepping up onto the plateau that the best wines get to, where you don't need to worry about opening them immediately, but you can feel confident that you are going to be getting the best of them if you choose to do so. Although we didn't taste the 2000 in this particular lineup, on recent openings it is a more muscular and closed down than the 2001, and will probably last longer, but this is just blindingly delicious right now. The descriptions that are most often associated with Château Margaux must surely be finessed tannins and floral aromatics, and you have both of them in spades, along with gentle roasted fruits of plum and blackberry, violet, cedar spice, liquorice and tobacco. The tannins are fine and full of pleasure. 4% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. 100% new oak." JA for DR

WS95 "Suave from the start, with beguiling tea, singed sandalwood and lilac notes backed by alluring, gently steeped red and black currant fruit. The long finish has an alder edge that stays in lockstep with the fruit, ending with a minerally echo. -- Blind '01/'03/'05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Drink now through 2030. 10,833 cases made." JM for WS Feb 2018

NM95 "Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index’s 10-Year On horizontal. This has a classic pencil-lead, Pauillac bouquet with fine delineation and lift, nothing ambitious, no frills but superb focus. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins and mineralite, black fruits intertwined with graphite and a touch of cedar. Conservative but very well crafted and full of breeding." NM for WJ May 2011

RP94 "The 2001 Chateau Margaux continues to evolve in impressive fashion. The nose feels sensual, veering towards red rather than black fruit, with disarming purity and perhaps showing more floral/violet character than the 1999. Both display tremendous precision and delineation. The palate is medium-bodied, edgy and tensile with crisp acidity, so fresh and vital in the mouth. Tasted next to the 1996 Château Margaux, it is clear to see that the 2001 is several steps behind, yet the way it fans out with such confidence and brio on the finish assures that this has a prosperous future." NM for TWA Oct 2016