Le inimitable 2nd Vin
It is not often that Château Margaux releases a new wine. But after 500 years of making great wine, this week they have decided to release a new wine from their stables, and it is a second label to their great Pavillon Blanc. The vintage is 2022 and the wine is called Pavillon Blanc Second Vin.
Since the early 18th century, Château Margaux has produced what is universally regarded as the finest and greatest white wine of the Médoc. Historically known as Château Margaux Vin Blanc de Sauvignon, it took it’s current name, Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux, in 1920.
In it’s constant quest for excellence, the estate is ever more selective, and in recent years has retained less than half of the harvest for the blending of the Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux. This drastic selection has been made possible through extensive analysis and understanding of the different soils in the plots of white grapes. As a result, the estate has been able to enhance it’s work in the vineyard, harvesting each plot at optimum ripeness, adapting the winemaking and ageing to the different grapes harvested.
This rigorous work has not only improved the quality of Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux. It has also resulted in a second selection of such high quality that the estate decided to bottle it starting with the 2022 vintage. Made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc, like Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux, and produced only from the estate’s historic vines, Pavillon Blanc Second Vin will drink younger than the Grand Vin but will also age graciously, maybe for at least two decades.
Pavillon Blanc Second Vin was released this week and we have an allocation of just 12 bottles (75cl) 2022 vintage that will be shortly at London City Bond VT @ GB£150 per bottle Under Bond.
The 2022 vintage was one of the hottest & driest, on record, at Margaux. There where three intense heatwaves in succession and for two months the vines did not receive a drop of rainwater. The estate decided to start harvesting these Sauvignon grapes on August 18th in order to preserve their freshness. It was the earliest harvest in the estate’s history and produced a wine with a complex, aromatic floral nose, leading to a creamy palate balanced with a saline finish. Yields where tiny.
Winemaker Note
Blend: 100% Sauvignon Blanc ”This is a powerful white with superb density and phelonic muscle. It’s full bodied and really impressive. Opulent and rounded, exotic! A great white that could be mistaken for a top Montrachet”