Chateau Margaux - Pavillon Rouge 2015

JAMES SUCKLING: "This is very tight and compacted with a condensed palate of currant and dark-berry character. A salty and mineral undertone to the wine. Full body and firm and linear tannins. Focused and intense. Long and precise on the finish. This is the best ever second wine of Margaux. Drink after 2023."

DUNNUCK: "The second wine of the estate is the 2015 Pavillon Rouge and its 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc raised in 60% new French oak. It’s a sensational wine in its own right, offering smokin’ good notes of crème de cassis, blueberries, toasted spices and ample minerality. Rich, full-bodied, opulent and concentrated with notable tannin, give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following two decades or more."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung, intensive rote Beerenfrucht, ein Hauch von Ribisel, ein Hauch von Gewürzen, angenehme Kirschenfrucht. Stoffig, reife süße Brombeerfrucht, dezente Extraktsüße, mineralisch, markante Salzigkeit, die dem Wein Frische verleiht, feiner Nougat im Nachhall, zeigt sehr gute Länge."

WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Cherries, anise, tobacco and cigar box notes rise amid a floral background to create an incredibly elegant, refined, fresh, long and sweet wine. Lift, purity of fruit, substance and length make this the best vintage of Pavillon Rouge I have ever tasted -- a testament to Paul Pontallier. The wine was produced from a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, reaching 14.% alcohol with pH of 3.67. Of the harvest, 23% was used for Pavillon Rouge du Margaux. This wine is better than any vintage of Margaux produced in the 1970's and with 2-3 exceptions, that same thing goes for the 80's too! 93 - 95 Pts"

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This wine's beautiful tannins are complemented by the ripe black fruits. Together they give a wine that is succulent, rich and firmly structured for long aging. Black currants, blackberries and intense crisp acidity come together in this intense wine. Drink from 2026."

WINESPECTATOR: "Really lush and warm, with velvety layers of fig, currant and blackberry preserves rolling through, picking up light alder, mesquite and tar notes for bass, while flashing light violet and black tea hints for lift. The long finish shows beautiful flow, with ample depth in reserve. Best from 2022 through 2040."

ANTONIO GALLONI: "The 2015 Pavillon Rouge is supremely inviting. Silky and medium in body, with wonderfully fragrant aromatics, the 2015 is a wine of total seduction. Bright red plum, mint, spice, cedar and white pepper are laced together in a racy wine endowed with terrific palate intensity and persistence. The 2015 is already quite open and delicious. I imagine it will continue to drink beautifully for the next 15-20 years or more."

DECANTER: "At six years old, this remains at the very beginning of its drinking life, where you feel the rich texture as your nose hovers over the glass, way before you get anywhere near the ripe berry fruits on the palate. It's a welcoming, powerful and drawn out Pavillon, with the highest level of tannins (and alcohol) that they had seen to date, but manages to never step over the line, as the tannins are supple and juicy, and the crushed raspberry fruits totally moreish. Just 23% of the crop went into the blend, around half as much as they would have used even a decade earlier. 1% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. 60% new oak. Drinking Window 2022 - 2038"

WINEADVOCATE: "Blended of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, the 2015 Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and an expressive, alluringly spicy nose of cloves, cinnamon stick and fenugreek with a core of red and black currants, black cherries and wild blueberries plus a waft of pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied with very fine, grainy tannins and wonderful freshness, it finishes long and satisfying."

WEINWISSER: "Mittleres Purpur-Granat. Kirschen und Himbeeren im burgundisch anmutenden Bouquet, feine laktische Anflüge, parfümiert im Ansatz. Seidiger, süffiger Gaumen, wirkt sehr leicht. Aber das macht ein Pavillon ja meistens bei der Primeurverkostung, um dann mit Reife zu überraschen. Sehr delikat und verspielt."