CH’NG Poh Tiong
This was tasted 11 days ago on Monday 24 February 2020, Day 1 of our inaugural Magic of Bordeaux Tour. It had been decanted from bottle to bottle 90 minutes earlier. Our guide Marie Guillard – whom I have known for several years now – pointed out it should had been longer, 2 to 2 ½ hours. She was so very right. Our group of 10 were the first visitors of the day, arriving at 0900 hrs, the same time the office starts work. The wine confirms two very glaring things. The first is why Chateau Margaux is one of the four original First Growths of the Médoc Classification in 1955, together with Lafite, Latour, and Haut-Brion. Mouton was only promoted in 1973 after years of petitioning by owner Baron Philippe de Rothschild. The decree elevating the Pauillac was signed by then Minister of Agriculture Jacques Chirac, later to become President. The second thing Pavillon Rouge confirms is how great a vintage 2010 is (in most cases, better than 2009). Great wines – like music and literature – don’ t happen by chance. It takes sensibility and sensitivity of an incredibly high order. Terroir – a great piece of earth in the right place – is not enough if the men and women responsible for the gift have no clue what they are doing. Or when they overdo it (usually with too much extraction, too much new oak and too long a time of wine in oak – wood juice anyone?). Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux 2010 is just a kid at the moment. Ripe, rich, intense red/blue fruit. Equally rich, ripe tannins. Great persistence. Very fresh and vibrant. Open in 2030. With ageing potential beyond.
