Tasted at the Claret Club -85 Dinner at -The Square-. Chateau Margaux remains one of the most compelling, indeed most delicious First Growths. Deeper in colour than its peers, there bouquet is vibrant and vivacious with succulent red fruits, date, a touch of iodine and violets and as before, further aeration reveals those classic pencil lead aromas. The palate is exquisitely balanced, focused and powerful and yet brilliant defined with a sublime talcum finish, a hint of exotic fruit on the finish. Divine. Drink now-2025+ Tasted December 2009.

On this tasting, Margaux 1985 is holding up the best of the Firsts, with the seductive opulence and caressing fruits that have been a marker of this wine for much of its life, now with tertiary notes of saffron and salted caramel. A satin texture to the still very present tannins, with the whole thing given lift by gentle notes of iris flowers and crushed mint leaf on the finish. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. This is the only one of the Firsts that is still headed up today by the same person as in 1985 - Corinne Mentzelopoulos, just five years into taking over from her father André at this point. Drinking Window 2021 - 2036
Tasted by Jane Anson (at Bordeaux, 01 Feb 2021)
Part of Anson: How the 1985 Bordeaux first growths taste now

Approaching full maturity, this beautifully sweet Chateau Margaux has a dense plum/purple colour and a huge, sweet nose of blackcurrants intermixed with licorice, toast, underbrush and flowers. Medium to full-bodied with supple tannin and a fleshy, juicy, very succulent and multilayered mid-palate, this expansive, velvety wine has entered its plateau of maturity, where it should remain for at least another 10-15 years. A very delicious, seductive, and opulent Ch Margaux to drink over the next two decades.

At age 30, this is in the perfect place to experience its soft, silky, fresh, sweet, red and black fruit pleasures. Elegant, medium/full bodied, with a complex nose and regal, cherry toned finish, there is no reason to pull a cork if you have a bottle. This bottle showed a bit better than some examples as it came directly from the chateau and had not been moved since it was bottled. Tasted July 2015

Shows mint and savory notes out front, with a very elegant structure weaving gently around the core of dried cherry, red currant and pomegranate fruit. The long sandalwood and singed cedar finish is very stylish. A bit outpaced by '88 and '86 in this flight, but as a standalone wine this is very confident in its old age.—Non-blind Château Margaux vertical (December 2013). Drink now through 2024. — JM