2025 Marquis d`Alesme (Margaux)

Closed on the nose, elegant with fine but plentiful tannins that layer up fast in the palate. Violet and peony floral notes, clear savoury edge of blue fruits this is precise, well structured, huge potential for ageing but also for pleasure. Yield 32 hl/ha. Harvest September 10 to 24. 45% new oak. 3.6 pH, one vat with whole bunch fermentation (4% of the blend). No need to green harvest because yields so naturally low. Marjolaine Maurice de Coninck technical director. 95 points

The 2025 Marquis d`Alesme Becker was tasted twice, at the château and at a négociant. Picked September 10 to 24 at 32 hl/ha, it is raised in 45% new French oak. It has a fragrant nose, quintessentially Margaux, with delineated scents of black cherries, violet, incense and light crushed stone. Very seductive, very precise. The palate is medium-bodied, with rounded tannins, a keen line of acidity and just a very slight herbaceous element behind that black, plummy fruit that should be subsumed during elevage. A decent Margaux, though this year I prefer its sister Margaux, the 2025 Labegorce. 91-93 points

The 2025 Marquis d`Alesme is an attractive, mid-weight Margaux. Rose petal, lavender, blood orange and cinnamon open nicely in the glass. This needs a bit more polish in its tannins, but hopefully elevage will take care of that. 90-92 points