Margaux

Vines have been grown in Margaux since the Gallo-Roman period. Château Margaux was known as La Mothe de Margaux as early as the twelfth century, and Pierre de Lestonnac restructured the property and its vineyards between 1572 and 1582. In the 17th century, a drainage system commissioned by Louis XIII and implemented by Dutch engineers allowed high-quality vineyards to be planted around the seigneuries and the priory of Cantenac, and in 1705 Château Margaux already appeared in local records. Bertrand Douat, Marquis de La Colonilla, acquired the estate in 1801 and hired Bordeaux architect Louis Combes to build the present château, one of the rare examples of neo-Palladian architecture in France. In the 1855 classification, created on the initiative of Napoleon III, Château Margaux was one of only four estates selected as first growth for the Médoc. The Ginestet family sold the estate to André Mentzelopoulos (d. 1980) in 1977; he introduced drainage and replanting and, under the guidance of oenologist Émile Peynaud, reintroduced Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux with considerably stricter selection. His daughter Corinne Mentzelopoulos assumed direction of the estate in 1980, and at the end of 2023 her son Alexis Leven-Mentzelopoulos was appointed CEO, the third generation at its head.

• Built between 1805 and 1815 by Louis Combes, the château is known as the “Versailles of the Médoc” and has been listed as a historic monument since 1946
• Philippe Bascaules first joined Château Margaux in 1990 as Estate Director, working under Paul Pontallier (d. 2016), and was appointed Managing Director by Corinne Mentzelopoulos in 2017
• In 2015 Château Margaux inaugurated a winery designed by British architect Norman Foster, extending the east wing of the nineteenth-century historic complex
• The Margaux winegrowers' union was founded in 1954, the year the appellation was officially recognized as a PDO

Margaux lies in the Médoc on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, between the Atlantic Ocean and the estuary, about 25 km north of the city of Bordeaux. Its vines grow on gravel terraces protected from ocean winds by the forest to the west, with mild winters, good sunshine and fairly moderate summer droughts. The terroir consists of gravel transported by the Garonne River onto a central plateau measuring 6 km long and 2 km wide, comprising six types of terraces formed during the Quaternary period, composed primarily of sandy-clay soils and lying atop a limestone or clay-marl Tertiary terrace. Decanter's James Lawther MW (2020) calls the gravel mounds of the five communes, especially Cantenac and Margaux, the poorest soils in the Médoc, with low clay content and scant fertility; limestone, sand and clay are also found.

• The gravel of Margaux is among the lightest of the Médoc, and this naturally draining, warm gravel means grapes tend to ripen earlier than in Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe further north, where soils have more clay
• The land is low, with the highest point only 27 metres above sea level, and a high water table makes drainage an ongoing problem
• Most châteaux own parcels of land in various communes with various soil structures, and Château Prieuré-Lichine is the only classified estate with vineyard plots in all Margaux communes
• Château Margaux's 265 hectares rest on Tertiary limestone and clay and on Quaternary gravel, sand and clay from the Garonne terraces, with deep gravel on the so-called “Type 4” terrace

Margaux AOC reds are built on Cabernet Sauvignon, which the CIVB calls the undisputed king of the region, adding power and structure; Merlot provides roundness and lovely aromas and Petit Verdot a touch of freshness, while Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Carménère remain more discreet. Margaux wines tend toward delicacy, smooth tannins and fruity notes, with a refined, perfumed elegance. Cabernet Sauvignon typically brings notes of cassis, green pepper and cedar, Merlot strawberry, raspberry and prune, the much rarer Cabernet Franc raspberry, redcurrant and liquorice-tinged violet, and Petit Verdot blueberry and coffee. At Château Margaux, around 87 hectares of red vines and 12 hectares of white vines are in production, the white vineyard planted exclusively with Sauvignon Blanc; the 2025 Grand Vin blend was 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.

• On 2021 figures, Margaux plantings stood at 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 4.5% Petit Verdot and 2.5% Cabernet Franc, after an increase of Cabernet plantings over Merlot in recent years
• The 2022 national-opposition version of the cahier des charges lists six principal varieties (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Cot or Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot) plus Castets as a variety of interest for adaptation, capped at 5% of a holding's plantings and 10% of the blend
• Castets, trialed as a seventh variety for its late ripening and good resistance to mildew, had its first experimental harvest in 2025
• Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux, which the estate calls the oldest second wine in the Médoc, is a blend of around 75 to 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15 to 20% Merlot with a touch of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot

Château Margaux is the appellation's First Growth and the only classified château that bears the name of its appellation. Around 40% of the harvest goes into the Grand Vin, with production averaging around 120,000 bottles; Pavillon Rouge generally averages around 100,000 bottles, and the third wine is Margaux du Château Margaux. Philippe Bascaules is Managing Director. The 1855 classification listed 21 of the 61 crus classés from Margaux, including a first growth, Château Margaux, and five second growths. Among the classified estates are second growths Château Rauzan-Ségla, Château Durfort-Vivens and Château Brane-Cantenac; third growths Château Palmer, Château d'Issan, Château Giscours, Château Kirwan, Château Malescot Saint-Exupéry and Château Cantenac Brown; fourth growth Château Prieuré-Lichine; and fifth growth Château du Tertre. Of the 21 classified growths, 18 are in the communes of Margaux and Cantenac, while the southern communes of Arsac and Labarde count three.

• Château Margaux covers 265 hectares, with around 87 hectares of red vines and 12 hectares of white vines in production, surrounded by meadows, woods, parks and historic buildings
• Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux is made exclusively from Sauvignon Blanc, with production generally around 12,000 bottles per year; since the Margaux AOC is reserved for red wines, this white falls outside the appellation
• Decanter (2022) credits director Thomas Duroux at third growth Château Palmer with blazing a trail for organic and biodynamic viticulture, with fine gravel and cooler clays giving an almost even blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot
• Margaux's 21 classified growths make up one third of the Médoc's classified wines and span every rank from First to Fifth Growth
• Beyond the classified growths, Margaux's non-classified wines include cru bourgeois exceptionnel Château Paveil de Luze and cru bourgeois supérieur Château La Tour de Mons

The Margaux AOC was initially recognized by the decree of 10 August 1954, and its cahier des charges was homologated by the arrêté of 31 March 2023. The appellation is reserved for still red wines. Grapes must be harvested, and wines made and aged, in Arsac, Cantenac, Labarde, Margaux-Cantenac and Soussans, with an immediate proximity area for winemaking in Arcins, Avensan, Lamarque, Ludon-Médoc, Macau and Le Pian-Médoc. In the version of the cahier put to national opposition in 2022, vines are planted at a minimum density of 7,000 vines per hectare, the yield is set at 57 hectolitres per hectare with a rendement butoir of 63, wines reach a minimum natural alcohol of 11%, and they are aged at least until 1 June of the year following the harvest. The 1855 classification, covered in its own article, ranks 21 Margaux estates.

• The same 2022 version of the cahier des charges caps total alcohol after enrichment at 13.5% and requires marketed wines to hold no more than 2 grams per litre of fermentable sugars
• Margaux AOC covers still red wines only: 100% red wines
• The 1855 classification placed 21 Margaux châteaux among its 61 red wines, and Margaux is the only Médoc PDO with the full range from First Growth to Fifth Growths
• The Syndicat viticole de Margaux, based in Margaux, is the appellation's defense and management body (ODG)

Margaux lies about 25 km north of the city of Bordeaux, and in 2022 at least 17 properties had wine tourism programmes. First growth Château Margaux only offers tastings for wine professionals, but visits can be arranged by appointment. Every October after the harvest, the Margaux Saveurs event brings concerts, tastings, workshops and meals to the appellation's four villages. Outside the main tourist season of May to September many châteaux operate limited days and hours, and during the Médoc's Portes Ouvertes weekend in early spring many estates offer free tours and tastings without appointments. The “Margaux Terroir de Biodiversité” strategy encourages most of the PDO to embrace practices promoting local biodiversity.

• The château at Château Margaux, listed as a historic monument since 1946, is recognised for its façade with four Ionic columns and a triangular pediment, and its first-year cellar, built in 1815, can hold up to 1,200 barrels
• The estate's Foster-designed winery, inaugurated in 2015, brought red and white wine production closer together and houses a dedicated research and development centre
• Thomas Jefferson, as Ambassador of the United States to France, placed Château Margaux in first position among the great wines of Bordeaux and ordered the 1784 vintage; he also drew up his own unofficial ranking of the local wines
• In the 1950s Alexis Lichine opened the doors of Château Prieuré-Lichine year-round to professionals and private connoisseurs

Primary sources (INAO, the CIVB and Château Margaux): https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/medoc/margaux/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/classifications/classifications-1855/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/medoc/, https://www.bordeaux.com/fr/appellations/medoc/margaux/, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/margaux-17485, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/3-CDC-Margaux.pdf, https://chateau-margaux.com/en/le-domaine/histoire, https://chateau-margaux.com/en/le-domaine/le-terroir, https://chateau-margaux.com/en/le-domaine/les-femmes-et-les-hommes, https://chateau-margaux.com/en/le-domaine/notre-patrimoine, https://chateau-margaux.com/en/vins/grand-vin-du-chateau-margaux, https://chateau-margaux.com/en/vins/pavillon-rouge-du-chateau-margaux, https://chateau-margaux.com/en/vins/pavillon-blanc-du-chateau-margaux, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/medoc/haut-medoc/. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine/margaux-for-wine-lovers-an-insider-guide-562983/, https://www.decanter.com/magazine/a-new-culture-margaux-wine-249538/, https://www.decanter.com/premium/regional-profile-margaux-482622/. Last verified 2026-10-05