Caramel, sweet strawberries and a hint of herbaceous Cabernet tones on the nose. Smooth, sensual and light almost - a delicacy to the frame but still with trademark detail so you get nuance and concentration but not so much overt power. This retains a supple character though with an enjoyable succulence of cherry and blackberry fruit. Supremely charming, refined and pure and still with a determination to the flavours - driving and focussed. Pure class and a joy to drink. 3% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. Drinking Window: 2022 - 2040
Tasted by: Georgina Hindle (at New York, 18 Jun 2022)
Part of Decanter New York Fine Wine Encounter: Château Margaux masterclass

Quality 960 | Brand 998 | Economics 967 | buzz brand, investment staple
Quality: Predicted life of 17 years, one of the longest drinking windows in its peer group for the 1995 vintage, which averages 11 years Brand: Strong restaurant presence, featuring on 44 of the world's top wine lists, including Lung King Heen Economics: More traded at auction than its peers, its top 5 vintages having seen 4,675 75cl equivalent bottles traded in the past year Production: Higher production than its peer group average of 112,956 bottles

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017

This still broods seriously, with dark plum, currant and blackberry fruit, studded with charcoal, singed tobacco and cedar notes and backed by a serious grip of roasted earth. The gorgeously long finish is driven by old-school tannins, with the smoldering edge going on and on. A brick house of a Margaux, with more charcoal than graphite, more austerity than elegance and more power than refinement.--Non-blind Château Margaux vertical (December 2013). Drink now through 2034. (JM)

Bottled very late (November, 1997), the 1995 has continued to flesh out, developing into one of the great classics made under the Mentzelopoulos regime. The color is opaque ruby/purple. The nose offers aromas of licorice and sweet smoky new oak intermixed with jammy black fruits, licorice, and minerals. The wine is medium to full-bodied, with extraordinary richness, fabulous equilibrium, and hefty tannin in the finish. In spite of its large size and youthfulness, this wine is user-friendly and accessible. This is a thrilling Margaux that will always be softer and more evolved than its broader-shouldered sibling, the 1996. How fascinating it will be to follow the evolution of both of these vintages over the next half century. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2040.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #115, Feb 1998)

The 1995 Château Margaux is a vintage perhaps unfairly over-shadowed by the imperious 1996. That is unfair because the late Paul Pontallier crafted a great First Growth this year. It has a very impressive, quintessential Margaux bouquet that is undimmed after 23 years: black fruit, graphite, crushed violets and a touch of tobacco. If anything it becomes more and more pure with aeration and demonstrates exquisite delineation. The palate is very finely balanced. No, it does not have the intensity, the crystalline nature of the 1996 and yet there is a femininity and a finesse here that sweeps you off your feet. It is entertaining the possibility of secondary flavours but it remains focused on the red and black fruit, tensile on the almost balletic finish. Bon vin! Tasted blind at Philip's February Christmas Party. Tasted July 2018

Excellent deep ruby color. Very complex aromas of blackcurrant, wild plum, violets, minerals, tar and smoky oak. Dense and supple, with great sweetness of fruit. Doesn't have quite the sheer power of the '96, but the flavors build and build. Substantial tannins are chewier than those of the '96 but hit the palate later. 1986 was the vintage with the highest level of polyphenols ever recorded at this estate, but '95 was the runner-up, according to Pontallier. Because this big, tannic wine needed longer barrel aging, it was bottled later than normal, in November of '97.

Firm, masculine, hard style of Margaux with ample, ripe, fruits, great aromatics, but the tannic spine will take at least another decade to soften, that is if it does. The finish has a touch of greeness in the endnote. I own some, but I am not sure this is going to change much, we will have to wait and see, which is a lot to ask, considering it is already 27 years old! Tasted April 2022

Dark color. Black licorice, coffee, currants and black olives. Complex nose. A full-bodied, chewy blockbuster of a wine that is not giving anything at all away. It is like buried treasure still; you have to search for the gold. And it's there. Fabulous. Please give this time.--'95/'96 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2014. (Wine Spectator)