12 bottles per lot
Details
THREE VINTAGES OF CHATEAU MARGAUX
Offered in original wooden cases
Château Margaux--Vintage 1983
Margaux, 1er cru classé. Château-bottled
Damp-soiled labels, three slightly loose. Levels base of neck or better
Tasting note: This was the wine of the vintage. Could it be just a coincidence that this was the much admired Paul Pontallier's first vintage at Margaux? I usually find Margaux exceptionally appealing in cask, its vivid purple, its fruit-driven aroma and dramatic taste. One takes for granted the accompanying tannins, one leaves inspired, but with blackened teeth! So it was with the '83 when I first tasted it twelve months after the harvest. On several occaisions I have tasted it alongside the '82 and at Lay & Wheeler's Margaux evening in 1990, judged the '82 to be better. However, on a more recent occasion, though both enormously impressive, I finally came down on the '83 - it just had that extra touch of finesse. I have fortunate enough to taste the wine on well over a dozen occasions over the last decade, three drinking superbly at our various Bordeaux Club dinners, but not showing at its best (dozens of bottles opened for the thousand or so participants) at a Wine Experience tasting in New York in 1995. Later at highly educational vertical tastings, one of the earliest of those in 1995, with the Hollywood Wine Society, and on each occasion tasted in the same 'flight' as the '82, the '83 tending to have a more glorious bouquet and crisper flavour. The total difference in style noted again at the two Wagner tastings in Zurich, the first in 1997. A double treat at the Château Margaux dinner at Brooks's in London (March 2000) for the wine and our one lady guest, Corinne Mentzelopoulos, who bowled over the elderly members: she is as witty as she is attractive. If I were to sum up the '83 Margaux, it would be as noted at John Jenkins' dinner (Oct 2000): a beautiful colour, medium deep and still youthful; the unbeatable Margaux fragrance soaring out of the glass; sweet, soft and rich. It fills the mouth with flavour and seems to last forever. Last tasted at Manfred Wagner's Margaux vertical in Zurich, Nov 2000 *****, Michael Broadbent, Vintage Wine.
12 bottles per lot
Offered in original wooden cases
Château Margaux--Vintage 1983
Margaux, 1er cru classé. Château-bottled
Damp-soiled labels, three slightly loose. Levels base of neck or better
Tasting note: This was the wine of the vintage. Could it be just a coincidence that this was the much admired Paul Pontallier's first vintage at Margaux? I usually find Margaux exceptionally appealing in cask, its vivid purple, its fruit-driven aroma and dramatic taste. One takes for granted the accompanying tannins, one leaves inspired, but with blackened teeth! So it was with the '83 when I first tasted it twelve months after the harvest. On several occaisions I have tasted it alongside the '82 and at Lay & Wheeler's Margaux evening in 1990, judged the '82 to be better. However, on a more recent occasion, though both enormously impressive, I finally came down on the '83 - it just had that extra touch of finesse. I have fortunate enough to taste the wine on well over a dozen occasions over the last decade, three drinking superbly at our various Bordeaux Club dinners, but not showing at its best (dozens of bottles opened for the thousand or so participants) at a Wine Experience tasting in New York in 1995. Later at highly educational vertical tastings, one of the earliest of those in 1995, with the Hollywood Wine Society, and on each occasion tasted in the same 'flight' as the '82, the '83 tending to have a more glorious bouquet and crisper flavour. The total difference in style noted again at the two Wagner tastings in Zurich, the first in 1997. A double treat at the Château Margaux dinner at Brooks's in London (March 2000) for the wine and our one lady guest, Corinne Mentzelopoulos, who bowled over the elderly members: she is as witty as she is attractive. If I were to sum up the '83 Margaux, it would be as noted at John Jenkins' dinner (Oct 2000): a beautiful colour, medium deep and still youthful; the unbeatable Margaux fragrance soaring out of the glass; sweet, soft and rich. It fills the mouth with flavour and seems to last forever. Last tasted at Manfred Wagner's Margaux vertical in Zurich, Nov 2000 *****, Michael Broadbent, Vintage Wine.
12 bottles per lot
Special notice
(Wine sales only). Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 17.850% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €150,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €150,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 17.850% of the first €150,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €150,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.
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