Château Margaux 1989

Dwarfed by its younger sibling, the 1990, the 1989 Chateau Margaux has a dark plum/garnet color and a big, sweet nose of new saddle leather, toasty oak, and weedy black cherry and cassis fruit. The wine is medium-bodied, with relatively elevated tannins, outstanding concentration and purity, but a somewhat clipped as well as compressed finish. This certainly outstanding wine has put on a bit of weight in its evolution in the bottle, but it is hardly one of the most profound efforts from Chateau Margaux. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2025. Last tasted, 10/02.

The texture stands out straight away: smooth and light yet direct, with a thrilling vibrancy still to the flavours and acidity in this wine. Sour cherry, salted caramel, a touch of balsamic strawberry, still with remarkable concentration. Fresh, bright and linear, with a graphite and wet stone note at the end that puts you back in the Médoc on gravel terroir. 5% Cabernet Franc completes the blend.

Very deep glowing dark ruby with lots of maturity at the rim. Not especially sweet and ripe on the nose – more minerals and sweetness. Lovely richness yet complete and and heady on the palate. Sweet round yet not earthy and velvety – still with this quite extraordinary freshness and vitality. Really remarkable for this vintage! So flattering and long and complete. Started to pick 10 Sep. (JR)

The 1989 Château Margaux is old school on the nose with dark berry fruit, saddle leather, iodine and a touch of wild mint. It's much more loose-knit than the 1990, which I personally prefer. The palate is well balanced with a sweet entry, not amazingly complex yet refined and delicate in the style of, say, Lafite-Rothschild. It gently builds toward a very harmonious but not robust tobacco-tinged finish. Drinking perfectly now - this will not get better. Tasted at the château.

Ready to go, the wine is soft, refined, elegant, and while it is not on the concentrated side, the fruit is polished, silky, and complex. Drink over the next decade for maximum enjoyment.

The 1989 Château Margaux showed beautifully, with a ripe, open, sexy style in its red and black fruits, saddle leather, savory herbs, and spicy, incense-like nuances. Playing in the medium to full-bodied end of the spectrum, it has a nicely balanced, elegant mouthfeel, resolved tannins, and a great finish. It's clearly in the heart of its prime drink window and should have a graceful evolution over the coming decades, with a gradual decline thereafter.

And then came the next duel of giants. Another classic from the twin vintages. Bright ruby-garnet with a lightening rim and a brownish sheen. Seductive, expansive bouquet with almost lavish richness and exoticism. Wow, blind I would hardly have pegged this as Bordeaux; in its exotic style it almost feels Californian: dark fruit with cedarwood, chocolate, currants, musk, and sweet licorice; only after this exhibitionistic wave does the Margaux spice gradually emerge. This orgy then continues on the palate: extract sweetness meets terroir spice. All the while finely woven, the tannins are firm, grainy, with delicate astringency, the acid structure is brilliant and provides ample freshness; it still has reserves for another decade.

90: I still had Latour on my palate when we were poured the barrel sample of the ’89 Margaux (17/20): spicy bouquet, dark wood, already knit, medium texture. No chance of matching the quality of the ’83 or ’86. Merlot was harvested on September 8, Cabernet on September 16. By September 27 everything was wrapped up. Shortly after bottling at the Château: an overcooked, atypical Margaux. For now it’s only 16/20! As an Amarone it would be an 18/20 experience. Beyond the sweetness, what bothers me most is the barrique that dries the wine and a touch too much pepper on the palate, showing as chili, Tabasco, and paprika powder. A difficult future? 1992, a half bottle: It’s very curious that such a young, great wine already hides brown reflections beneath the surface. Very likely some berries were sunburned and this brownish note transferred into the base color during fermentation. Unfortunately, this also confirms my theory I already formed in 1991 about this wine: fat, rich nose marked by dried fruits (pear and banana). On the palate hot and punchy. Fine tannin, now surrounded by a lot of fat due to the rather low acidity. I can imagine many wine lovers who taste the wine first and then read my notes will disagree with my rating. To me, it’s totally atypical and far too expensive for what it offers. You can get such hot juices in Italy by the truckload at half the price, which would still be too expensive. And time and again, whenever I was served it, I noticed the overcooked, raisiny tones on the nose and the dry tannins, e.g. in 1994: powerful red-berried concentrate, mulberries and wild strawberries, sweet, smoke, roasted dried fruits. Lots of material, yet very dry in the tannins, viscous flow. Probably a bit too little wine fat to offset the dryness in the tannins. ’99: To bridge a rainy Sunday afternoon with card games, Bärti Stocker had already put aside a magnum of ’89 Margaux: already first signs of maturity with brownish highlights. The bouquet is hot, Corinth-like, showing chocolate notes but also raisiny traces from very ripe Merlot. On the palate, the dryness gives enormous concentration, but makes the extract even drier and almost a bit viscous. Petit Verdot accounts for a black pepper note and a tea tone, like you only find in great Hermitage. On the one hand, an astringency still seeking maturity; on the other, that dryness which has always been its hallmark. Keep following – but it will never become a truly great Margaux (17/20). ’01: My God, when I think how much fun Monbrison is and how brilliant Palmer is, I have to openly reproach the Margaux team: earthy, almost fruitless bouquet, raisin tones, but also certain oxidative aromas in the overcooked bouquet. On the palate so dry you have to activate saliva just to be able to swallow it at all. The potential is there, but one must seriously ask whether the wine will ever gain the famous Margaux charm. If it doesn’t improve soon, it will lose one or even two points (17/20). ’03: Slightly lightening garnet, first orange shimmer, broad rim outside. Headily sweet bouquet, lingonberries, light fine woods, café au lait, roasted nuts, delicate and fine. On the palate it seems rather light, yet remains dancing, heavily raisined fruit, honey contours, the tannins carry a tendency to dryness, spicy finish with Irish moss and gingerbread. Will it dry out or fill out? Very hard to judge. One more or less question mark hardly matters anymore for this 1989 Margaux (17/20). ’06: What a lunch. We ordered three wines at once and let the soldiers march in together. In the right glass: 1989 Latour, in the middle: 1989 Lafite, and left: this 1989 Margaux. The color surprisingly deep, with gentle maturity tones. The bouquet began and remained dry, very spicy, leather notes, dried herbs and candied malt. On the palate firm, with a strong acidity, very concentrated. The wine is still developing and shows an astonishing, previously not properly noticed potential. (18/20). ’07: Dark purple, showing a discreet brownish shimmer in the core. Sweet bouquet, gently dry, currants, smoke, summer truffle, suede and musk, overall a hot expression. On the palate still present, meaty tannins, grainy flow, showing a massive body and superb concentration. Long finish, belongs among the classics. ’08: Tasted blind in Spain alongside the again disappointing ’82 Château Margaux. The ’89 keeps getting better and is shedding its youthful sins. It’s minty, rather thick and shows malt and herbs on the palate. If it keeps going like this, it will land at 19/20! ’10: In fact there was more power in the glass than in the maximally scored Palmer in the glass on the left. But with Premiers, in the end it’s finesse that counts. (18/20). ’12: Deep purple, fine brick-red rim outside. Sweet, compote-like bouquet with a slightly alcoholic impression, conveying a touch of Ruby Port, heady. On the palate at the attack – unusually creamy and fat for a Margaux – then with tannins still demanding more. Over the past years it has improved by nuances and seems to want to gain another point. It has plenty of time for that, as the potential is exciting and easily covers another 20 years. (18/20). ’13: Bright wine red, fine brick-red shimmer inside. Fragrant bouquet, slightly stemmy aromas, Dominican tobacco, Red-Belt-Pepper (dried red paprika), cayenne notes, at times also a slight dustiness. On the palate showing good concentration, the extract is (still) blocked, so the acidity still hasn’t fully integrated. Thus – as Château Margaux – still too little charm and still slightly rough-hewn. The sweetness on the finish is, however, very conciliatory. Start without haste. There is still some surprise potential here. (18/20). ’14: Dry-sweet bouquet, curry glint, raisins, honey, first leather notes. On the palate with a piquant opening, meaning peppery tannins on the tongue. A racy, almost impetuous Margaux. Just at the beginning of a long drinking maturity. (18/20). ’20: Magnum. Dark red in the middle, brick-red shimmer on the rim. The dry-leaning bouquet shows many kinds of dried fruits. Foremost: raisins and currants. Then smoky nuances, tar, dark malt and dried kitchen herbs. On the palate it is powerful. It still shows many undigested tannins, which give this masculine-looking Margaux a deep tone. It needs more time and it’s not certain it will harmonize. Perhaps the regular bottles are already a bit further along. This was a very youthful-looking magnum. (18/20).

Creamy, dense, deep, full bouquet with cassis, mulberries, tobacco, currants, fine woods, eucalyptus. Balanced, dense and multi-layered palate with a wide range of powerful aromas, concentrated structure, dark fruit, very long, dense finish. 19/20 drink - 2045

Medium to deep brick colored, the 1989 Chateau Margaux is a little sluggish and broody to begin, reluctantly releasing notes of cigar box, charcoal, dried herbs, and damp soil, before revealing a core of dried cherries, leather, and prunes. The medium-bodied palate has lightly chewy tannins and a refreshing backbone supporting the savory flavors, finishing provocatively chalky.

Logo on the cork: inverted T (Trescases) Dark, intense color with slight development. Big fruity nose, intense and very seductive. Beautifully soft attack on the palate. The wine rises mid-palate and begins to melt, delivering plenty of flavor and a very refined texture. Long, sappy, complex finish. Fine-grained. It’s delicious.