The 1996 vintage in Margaux
Vintage benchmark: 92/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: A dry, windy September saved the Médoc's cabernets: the cabernet vintage par excellence, structured and slow to open.
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.
Blend of the 1996 vintage
- 60 % Cabernet Sauvignon
- 40 % Merlot
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 1996 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Figures from the 1996 sheet
- 47 hl/haYield
Winemaking
Alcoholic fermentation lasted 8 days in stainless steel vats. Pumping over twice a day. Harvest time: Merlot from September 26th to 29th, Cabernet Franc September 29th, Cabernet Sauvignon from September 29th to October 6th.
Ageing
18 months with 70% new oak barrels. Racking with the candle every 3 months. Traditional fining with egg whites.
Terroir
The Rauzan-Ségla vineyard covers 52 ha at the gates of the village of Margaux: excellent exposure; a terroir of fine, deep gravel and clay; a typically Margaux blend of grape varieties (54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc); vines with an average age of 27 years; the application of sustainable vineyard management. It is in the vineyard, during winter, that the vintage is prepared: each plot is worked according to its grape variety, its terroir and its earliness, in order to promote even ripening of the berries in healthy conditions.
An offer on Château Rauzan-Ségla 1996
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 1996
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
This wine’s visuals are grouped in the media library. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.
Sheet checked on September 28, 2026. Technical data: the estate’s VinCod sheets. Critic scores: sources cited above, with their date. Vintage benchmarks and character: Compagnie Médocaine’s own editorial read. Soils and relief, where shown: the Compagnie Médocaine’s parcel survey and the Mapbox/IGN terrain model.