Château Marquis de Terme 2023

Critic scores

• James Suckling94
• Vinous94
• Jeb Dunnuck94
• Decanter94
• Wine Spectator92

The 2023 vintage in Margaux

Vintage benchmark: 91/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: July mildew followed by a hot September demanded strict selection: fleshy, aromatic wines, more approachable than 2022.

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

Beautiful bright and intense color with purple reflections. Expressive and complex nose with notes of black fruits, blackcurrant, raspberry, intertwined with floral notes of undergrowth, cedar, ivy and menthol. The palate is delicious with a delicate tannic structure. The texture is suave supported by a nice acidity giving lots of relief and length.

Blend of the 2023 vintage

Cabernet Sauvignon (68%), Merlot (28%), Petit verdot (4%)

Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2023 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot.

Figures from the 2023 sheet

• 35 yrsVine age

Winemaking

Plot vinification in thermo-regulated concrete, wood and stainless steel vats filled by gravity without pumping. integral vinification in barrels. Cold pre-fermentation macerations, alcoholic fermentation with natural yeasts, punching down, sulphite-free vinification.

Ageing

16 months in French oak barrels, 50% of which is new oak.

Terroir

45 ha of deep gravel soils typical of Margaux, locally more clayey at depth, set on 3 main terroir units: peyrosols (gravel and stones), luvisols (thick soils of sand and gravel with clay particles) and podzosols (leached soils that contribute to the complexity of our wines). Average age of the vines: 35 years.