Château Kirwan 2024

Critic scores

• James Suckling93-94
• Vinous92-94
• Decanter92

The 2024 vintage in Margaux

Vintage benchmark: 87/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A rainy spring and a difficult flowering reduced the crop; the dry October saved fine, light, easy-drinking wines.

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

A brilliant, inviting red,

and a nose of fresh

red fruit you just want

to bite into. On the palate

it has the elegance of a Margaux,

a basket of fruit just

lightly macerated for extra

juiciness. You find

blackberry, blackcurrant, redcurrant,

but also a floral

character borrowed from the

cabernet franc. The tannin grain is

precise, coated, giving

length to the tasting.

This length on the palate

is also aromatic, it

contributes to the

generous, modern character of

the vintage.

Blend of the 2024 vintage

Figures from the 2024 sheet

• 27 hl/haYield
• 30 yrsVine age
• 90,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Tanks filled by gravity. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentations conducted simultaneously with selected yeasts and bacteria. Vatting of 7 to 15 days in temperature-controlled tulip-shaped concrete tanks at 25–26°C, followed by a maceration of 18 to 25 days, adjusted by daily tasting. Pump-overs 2 to 3 times a day during the fermentation phase. Gentle vertical pressing with direct gravity flow into barrel for the press wines. Free-run drawing off also carried out directly into barrel. Racking without aeration every 3 to 4 months.

Ageing

18 to 21 months in French oak barrels

Annual renewal of 1/3 of the barrel stock with new barrels

Terroir

With 40 ha of vines and 46 separate parcels, Kirwan continues to develop the rich potential of its terroir, adapting viticulture to the soil and the climate. Situated on the gravel rise of Cantenac, bordering the river born of a thousand-year erosion, this terroir reveals and expresses its geological capital. Recently confirmed by a soil study aimed at better understanding the composition of the soils, the role of the gravels is essential: by aiding drainage and warming, it encourages the roots to explore deep down. The clay captures water and preserves its freshness, playing a key moderating role during severe droughts or heatwaves.