2004 Chateau Margaux, Margaux, Bottle (750ml)

DR96 "An evocative nose with perfumed aromas jumping out of the glass. This balances intensity with freshness giving sour cherry, blueberry and raspberry fruit flavours alongside wet stone, salty mineral notes. There is a precision to this, it's not so weighty but more direct and focussed. Fine tannins fill the palate and this is just starting to show some of the savouriness of mature Bordeaux. A superb wine at an excellent time to drink but still with ageing potential. 1% Cabernet Franc completes the blend." GH for DR Jun 2022

RP94 "The 2004 Chateau Margaux has always been a promising wine and here, served blind against the First Growths, it finally proved that patience is necessary when it comes to such wines. It has an exquisite bouquet with brilliant delineation, scents of redcurrant, raspberry coulis, cold stone (almost flint-like) with pencil-lead and cedar lending it a Pauillac-like sense of aristocratic flair. The palate is extremely well balanced with a supple opening, nigh perfect acidity with a surprisingly citric undercurrent that lends so much freshness and tension. While it does not have the weight and power of say, 2000, 2005 or 2009, it cruises along with utmost harmony and you become smitten by its charms - something that is perhaps in short supply among the First Growths in this vintage. This is excellent. Tasted September 2016." NM for WA Mar 2017

VM94 "The 2004 Chateau Margaux is one of the dark horses of the decade. This bottle, which came directly from the château cellars, accidentally landing in my hands (long story), reconfirms the caliber. The bouquet takes a little time to find its feet, eventually offering richly layered scents with raspberry, blackberry, crushed rock and pencil shavings. It has tangible coolness, not powerful, but displaying exquisite delineation. The palate is wonderfully balanced, more pliant than recent vintages, fresh and tensile, with a little more firmness on the finish compared to my previous encounter six years earlier. This is well worth seeking out, and it will give 20 to 30 years of pleasure." NM for VM Sep 2023