Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux, Second wine of Chateau Margaux

Description

Chateau Margaux’s second wine appeared in the 19th century and took its current name, Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux, in 1908. It is produced from the wines that aren’t retained for the Château Margaux during the blending process. The reasons for certain plots not giving the best of themselves are diverse. Among them, the youth of the vines plays an essential role; before ten years of age, sometimes fifteen, or even more in some cases, the plots of vines produce fruity and tannic wines that don’t have the complexity, depth and richness of those produced by their elders. Each year, obviously the quality of Pavillon Rouge is linked to that of the first wine. It goes through the same traditional techniques of vinification and ageing in barrels but it’s often bottled three or four months earlier than Château Margaux because its finer structure doesn’t require such a long barrel-ageing period. It has the advantage of evolving more rapidly in bottles and is therefore ready to drink more quickly, always retaining, in the great vintages, an excellent ageing potential.