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Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux 2018

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Bordeaux Generic
ColourWhite
TypeStill
Grape VarietySauvignon Blanc/Semillon

This is the dry white wine of Chateau Margaux, made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Less than 1000 cases are produced annually. Freshness and a modest degree of 13.5 were achieved in 2018 by a very early harvest (27th to 31st August).

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Label

Tasting Notes

A dynamic dry white with lemon rind, pears and sherbet, as well as vanilla and lilac character. It’s full-bodied with a tight, focused palate of lovely ripe fruit and vivid acidity. Timid, yet classy at the finish. Energetic acidity. 1,000 cases made. Try after 2023.

98
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, March 2021

As mentioned during my barrel tasting of this wine, the 2018 Pavillon Blanc is made of 100% Sauvignon Blanc that was picked at the end of August. The vines here are 40-50 years old, going some way to helping them cope with periods of extreme heat and drought, as was the case in 2018. The nose begins a little reticent, requiring a fair bit of swirling to unlock youthful, pristine notes of freshly squeezed limes, lemon tart and fresh grapefruit with touches of sea spray, green mango and acacia with a waft of crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate delivers a seriously racy backbone of acidity, supporting the super intense citrus and chalky flavors layers, finishing long with great purity. It will require a good 4-5 years in bottle to emerge from this shell and should drink for a good 15 years or more beyond that. Drink: 2025 - 2041

95+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, March 2021

Harvest started 27 August, as in 2017. ‘It’s as if this came from another vintage’, says winemaker Phillipe Bascaules, because the drought of September missed them because of the harvest date and they missed the hydric stress that the reds faced, so they were able to keep the freshness. Easier to explain the freshness of the whites than that of the reds, he suggested. pH 3.1. Barrel sample.
Subtle oak spice and mealy, creamy notes from the barrels but also beautifully fragrant citrus and blossom on the nose, making the palate all the more remarkable in its incredible fruit intensity. Amazing intensity and freshness at the same time. Concentration but with this salty aftertaste. Mouth-watering. Succulent and so full of pure, fragrant citrus, almost a touch of apricot. Really aromatic on the palate too. Both sweet-fruited and salty giving very good balance. Mealy, almost savoury on the final salty finish. (JH) 13.5%
Drink 2023-2033

17.5
Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2019

Very pale in colour with a zesty nose of grapefruit and pithy lemon, accented by creamy vanilla from new oak. The palate is racy and vibrant, the high acidity helping to cut through the fleshy, ripe fruit at the core. The spicy oak is subtle and integrated on the palate, giving a lightly pithy, harmonious and long finish.

94+
Farr Vintners, Farr Tasting, April 2019

One of the whites of the vintage is the 2018 Château Margaux Pavillon Blanc, which is all Sauvignon Blanc brought up in barrel. This racy, medium to full-bodied beauty offers a terrific sense of freshness and tension as well as complex notes of lemon curd, white grapefruit, white flowers, and salty minerality. Vibrant, racy, yet also textured and beautifully concentrated, it's unquestionably in the top handful of whites in the vintage.

95/97
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, May 2019

(100 Sauvignon Blanc) | 13.5% alc They harvested between the 27th - 31st August as the acidity looked like dipping too much, so this was a relatively early harvest. This is a bitter lemon style with serious attack of sherbet and pith on the palate and the length and razor edge is amazing. I think that this is a vintage which will age well given it is super-dry and very keenly acidic. The weight is seemingly lighter but also more intense than in previous vintages. It is by far the most rapier-sharp wine of the vintage.

18+
Matthew Jukes, MatthewJukes.com, April 2019
Read more tasting notes...

A very powerful and dense white with loads of dried lemons and cooked peaches. Full-bodied with chewy phenolic tension and texture. Extremely long. Lasts for minutes. Layered!

97/98
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2019

The 2018 Pavillon Blanc is made of 100% Sauvignon Blanc that was picked in August—there was no water stress on the vines at this stage. The wine has a pH of 3.1 and 13.5% alcohol. It leaps from the glass with exuberant green guava, fresh pineapple and apricot scents with hints of mandarin peel, honeysuckle and fresh ginger. The palate is medium-bodied, elegant and very fresh with wonderful, intense tropical layers, finishing very exotic.

93/95
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (April 2019), April 2019
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.