From Wine Advocate: "...This First Growth is suffused with aristocracy, luxury and indeed tragedy; its grand portico is Bordeaux....The entire estate covers 262-hectares with 87-hectares planted with red varietals and 12-hectares planted with white. The soil is a coarse gravel topsoil with a subsoil of calcareous clay known as Calcaire de Plassac. The vineyards are planted with the following grape varietal ratio: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 2 to 3% Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot with an average vine age of 36 years...This is certainly the most feminine and most charming of the First Growths. It is usually the most pleasurable wine to taste out of barrel, then seems to close down more than most for around five years, before emerging with its true colours...The fundamental virtue of a great Château Margaux is poise; the way it tiptoes on the palate like a ballerina, full of strength and grace. The character of the wine itself is crushed blackberries, cassis and violets and the texture is very different from that of the Pauillac First Growths: rich, sensuous and seductive. Its tannins a finer, lending the wine a certain transparency and clarity that is rare in Bordeaux." (Producer Profile, NM)