Château Durfort Vivens 2018

Critic scores

• James Suckling96-97
• Vinous96
• Decanter92

The 2018 vintage in Margaux

Vintage benchmark: 95/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: After a spring marked by mildew, the heat concentrated a small crop: rich, ripe wines with great depth of material.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Margaux. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

Only 7,000 bottles were produced. It is a vintage that is both rare and of extraordinary quality, the kind we produce only a few of per century. We have named it a "rare year," following the example of 1945 and 1961.

Blend of the 2018 vintage

Figures from the 2018 sheet

• 120,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

This vintage was the smallest harvest of the past 25 years in an exceptional year, a jewel that will mark the property's history:

• Preservation of each plot's identity by replacing the vats with vinification amphorae.

• Inspiration from 19th-century artisanal practices with no artificial energy source whatsoever. The harvest, sorting, filling of the amphorae, and vinification through to pressing of the pomace were all carried out by hand.

• The most demanding blend ever produced

Ageing

18 months of ageing, comprising:

- 70% in new barrels

- 30% in amphorae

Terroir

Situated in the communes of Margaux, Cantenac and Soussans, the Durfort-Vivens vineyard puts down its roots on deep and particularly poor gravel rises. These gravels were deposited by the successive beds of the Garonne in the Quaternary era. This great terroir gives Cabernet Sauvignon an early and optimal ripeness, allowing it to express fully the finesse and silkiness of its tannins, the guarantee of the freshness and elegance characteristic of the great Margaux wines. At Château Durfort-Vivens, the constant search for a natural balance between the vine and its terroir is reflected in traditional cultivation practices. In 2012, 80% of the vineyard was farmed biodynamically and 20% under integrated production