2016 Pavillon Rouge de Château Margaux, Margaux

Château Margaux 1st Cru Classé dates back to the 12th century, when the castle was known as "La Mothe de Margaux". Back then, the castle was reserved for the royal family, who frequented it from time to time. Subsequently, several nobles have held ownership, and it wasn't until 1572, when Pierre de Lestonnac became the owner, that the fields were converted from grain cultivation to viticulture. Fast forward to 1810, after the castle had been confiscated during the French Revolution, the new owner, Marquis de la Colonilla, hired architect Louis Combes to build the Château and the cellar, which is still in use today. Since then, the chateau continued to change ownership several times and in 1977, the Ginestet family was forced to sell Château Margaux due to a huge drop in prices in Bordeaux. The château was on the market for 2 years before it was sold to Andre Mentzelopoulos for a paltry 16 million dollars. The family hired Paul Pontallier, an agricultural engineer and oenologist, who ended up working over 30 years at the château as technical director and became an essential part of the modern era of success behind Château Margaux. Paul Pontallier passed away in 2016 and as 2015 was the last vintage he worked on, this vintage became a tribute to him, with the words written in The Mentzelopoulos family continues to own Château Margaux to this day. In 2015, they completed a massive renovation of the wine cellar - the first renovation since the original cellar was built in 1810. Since 2017, Château Margaux has grown exclusively organically and is experimenting on a single hectare plot with biodynamic cultivation of Cabernet Franc. The Pavillon Rouge de Château Margaux has reached unprecedented heights, quality-wise, and is incredibly close to the 1st wine. This confirms the high international ratings and the wine has reached huge demand. Translated using AI.