1995 Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux

1995 Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux

During COVID period, I have been doing a lot of blind tastings via test tubes as I have a group of friends and we always rotate to take turn to host the tastings over Zoom sessions. I have had the pleasure to taste numerous Chateau Margaux vintages during these sessions (recalled 1982, 1989 and 1990), not once I nailed Chateau Margaux in these blind tastings, but I took a lot of notes on these tastings, so I remembered vividly about their characteristics. First and foremost, I decanted this bottle for 2 hours, and had a whiff and a sip on the first pour. Prior to decanting, the bouquet was so inky and iodine that I immediately can relate this wine to the Grand Vin Chateau Margaux. By 2 hours mark, this unique character has blown off, replaced by slight vanilla and very ripe and forward fruits. The content again resembled the Grand Vin, dense and thick with very good structure, maybe not as compact as the Grand Vin, but definitely highly deserving of the second wine status and definitely exceeded my expectation of Pavillon Rouge that I have drank in the past. Bear in mind that the grapes came from the same vines they use for their Grand Vin, except that during the sorting of grapes the disqualified ones went to Pavillon Rouge, thus the resemblance to the Grand Vin is unsurprising.