Sommelier Ranks MARGAUX 1855 Chateaux: Best Value to Overpriced

Today we are ranking the 1855 classified chateaus in Margaux, in Bordeaux, from overpriced to the best value for you to have a bit of an insight which bottles to buy and which probably not. My name is Gary, I'm a WSET Level 3 Qualified Sommelier and Margaux is my favorite appellation in Bordeaux. I love Margaux. I just got from there a couple of weeks ago and got some great info for you. Let's start with Château d'Issonne. As an experience, it is one of the most beautiful things in the whole meadow. A 17th century chateau sitting inside its own moat, a clo in French, which is quite common for the right bank Bordeaux or Burgundy or Champagne, but not very common for the left bank and Margaux in particular. It is one of the oldest wine estates in the region, with a motto on the gate about the tables of kings and the altars of gods. There is a legend that its wine was poured at the wedding of Eleanor of Aquitaine in the 12th century. Whether that's true or a very good marketing department, I don't know, frankly, but it's wonderful. If you're visiting Margaux, just go there, no doubt. But we are ranking wine here. The Grand Vin, the first wine, starts around 60 euros and climbs up from there. And at 60 euros, in this appellation, I think there are more interesting bottles, frankly. And you'll see several of them in a minute. So the first wine is a C tier for me. And no, nobody in this video is getting an F tier. These are classified growths in one of the best appellations on earth. Nobody is making bad wine here. What moves the tier is what you get for the price on the shelf. So Chateau d'Issonne, Grand Vin, first wine, C tier. The second wine, though, Blason d'Issonne, is a completely different conversation. Under 30 euros, labeled just as AOC Margaux, no classification on the bottle, but you have same team, same seller, just a different selection of plots, of barrels, of the different vines. And this wine is fantastic. Easily one of my favorite value bottles in all of Bordeaux. It's a strange thing to say about this state, right? So C tier for their first wine and A tier for their second wine. But it is what it is. Then Chateau Marquis de Therme. For me, it is B tier. And the story here is lovely. Back in the day, there was one huge rosin estate and it got carved up into four separate properties that all ended up classified in 1855. So you have Rosin Segla, Rosin Gassi, Desmirail, and this one. Marquis de Therme came out of a marriage dowry in 1762. Thomas Jefferson tasted it in 1787 and put it among the 16 best wines in Bordeaux. It is certified organic now, 100 fruit trees planted, nearly a kilometer of hedges and 5 beehives on this estate. They make their own honey and yes, I tasted it, the honey is good. There is a proper restaurant on site too, so as a visit, it is excellent. As for the wine, it is classic Margaux style, fair price, B tier, no surprises. And then Chateau Desmirail. Write this one down because it is the best-priced classified growth in the whole Margaux probably. Around 40 euros for their first wine. And there is a reason nobody talks about it. For more than 40 years this estate didn't exist. It was founded back in 1661, classified third growth in 1855, and then in 1938 it got swallowed by Chateau Palmaire and simply vanished. A third growth sitting on the official list, making no wine at all, just a name on a piece of paper. And then Lucien Lurton bought that name back in 1980 and rebuilt the whole thing from scratch. And his son Denis has been running it since 1992 now. So what you are buying is a genuine classified terroir with none of the reputation markup. Because the market still hasn't quite caught up with the fact that it came back. The wine is classic, elegant, finesse-driven Margaux for less than you'd pay for a decent Saint-Emilion. B tier for me, even A tier on the price, call it high B tier, and probably the smartest 40 euros to spend on this list. And then Chateau Quiroin, around 60-70 euros per bottle of their first wine, and for me one of the most consistent wines in the appellation. That is a clear A tier for me. The history is a proper Bordeaux story too. The estate was pulled together in the 18th century by Marc Quiroin, he was an Irish merchant from Galway, one of the so-called wine-gees, the Irish traders who came to Bordeaux and ended up owning half of the Midoc area. He married the owner's daughter, expanded the vineyard, put his name on it, Jefferson rated it highly in 1787, then it passed to Camille Godard, a mayor of Bordeaux, who left the entire estate to the city when he died. So for a couple of decades the city of Bordeaux literally owned a third growth estate. And now they rebuilt the cellar with 37 concrete tulip-shaped vats recently, one per plot. Hold that thought, we are coming back to concrete, because I absolutely love concrete in wine, hope you love that too. And look, that is basically what I do, I work as a private sommelier for people who love wine but don't want to figure it out on their own. If you got bottles sitting at home and you're not sure what's ready now, what needs a few more years, and what you should just open tonight before it goes over the hill, that's what I'm here for. If you're starting a collection, we can build it together, so pick a few everyday bottles, some bottles for a special occasion, and a couple of genuinely worth aging bottles. Or for instance, you need a gift, I don't want to just grab the most expensive thing on the shelf. Or you want to pick some wine for a wedding, or for a special dinner, or working out how to read a restaurant list, so we can do it together as well. Just send me an email and we'll talk, all the info is in the description. Then let's go for Chateau d'Auxac. Also around 60 euros per bottle, also an A-tier for me, it's a modern Margaux done properly. It is bright, it is aromatic, food-forward, without being clumsy. Are they pragmatic in Auxac about costing the vineyard? Absolutely, yes. You can see it if you know what to look for particularly. For instance, they use 20% of machine harvesting for some of their plots, but the tin is good enough, the wine comes out excellent anyway. And at 60 euros for a classified growth, which is like a moderate price in this appellation, I'm not going to argue with the maths. And I was out there for this harvest, which was something else completely. It was the hottest growing season in Bordeaux since 1893. So winemakers who were saying summer temperatures in Medoc matched Jerez in South Spain, so it is unthinkable. They start picking in August, not September. In August the berries are tiny, this year thick-skinned small crop yields down, but the fruit is genuinely very good quality. So keep an eye on that vintage, 2026 it is going to cost a lot, I promise. And by the way, Margaux has 21 classified growths more than any other appellation in the 1855 classification, so obviously I'm not covering all of them today. So if you haven't found your favorite one here, probably we'll cover it next time. And then Château d'Urfaux Vivant. S tier, no doubt for me. For me, this is the modern Margaux at its absolute best. And yes, it's a bit more expensive than the previous ones, around 100, maybe a little bit more than 100 euros per bottle. So why does it top a value ranking? Because the wine is really good. It has some blueberries, lavender, violets, that floral lift that comes up out of the glass before you even tasted it. It's silky, it's fine without being thin. And the reason I love this one is winemaking. D'Urfaux Vivant is run by Gonzac Lurton, whose wife Claire Villard Lurton runs Haute Barge Libéral in Pauillac, so between them, they've got Margaux and Pauillac covered. The estate is certified biodynamic, and a lot of the work happens in concrete and amphora instead of drowning everything in oak, which they do sometimes in Margaux. And that's the real split in Margaux right now. The traditional Kem ages in barrel, new oak. You got that cedar, vanilla, firm structure. You have Giscours, Marquis de Therme. That world, and I respect that completely, this tradition. And the modern Kem works in concrete. It uses more clay, which doesn't add a lot of flavor. It just lets the fruit and the florals come through naked. Not naked, it is dressed with some oak, some good new oak as well. But in an appellation whose entire signature is perfume and silk, Margaux, wearing that under new oak feels... It just doesn't feel right to me. And there is an old line in the Medoc that Margaux is for ladies and Pauillac is for gentlemen. Margaux being more perfume, it has more finesse. Pauillac is being more structured with more power. And for me, it's a complete nonsense, obviously. I'm very happily a Margaux person. Violet, silk, all of it, no notes. So if you want a very good wine for 40 euros, buy Chateau des Mirailles because it does have that markup. 30, buy second wine, Glazon du Saint. Feel smug about it. 60, Kirouan or Dozac, depending on what style you prefer. More traditional one or more modern one. And if you want to understand why people lose their minds over this appellation, Durfort Vivant, decanted, give it like a couple of hours and it's still way more affordable than Chateau Margaux, right? If you want help building your own Margaux shelf or have some other wine-related question or inquiry, email me. Everything is in the description. And see you in the next one. Bye-bye!