Pavillon Rouge 2015

The vintage’s gentle, full-bodied character is fully on display, with tannins providing polish and breadth; particularly stylish, already very approachable, yet with potential.

Really lush and warm, with velvety layers of fig, currant and blackberry preserves rolling through, picking up light alder, mesquite and tar notes for bass, while flashing light violet and black tea hints for lift. The long finish shows beautiful flow, with ample depth in reserve. Best from 2022 through 2040. 8,333 cases made.

At six years old, this remains at the very beginning of its drinking life, where you feel the rich texture as your nose hovers over the glass, long before you get anywhere near the ripe berry fruits on the palate. It's a welcoming, powerful and drawn-out Pavillon, with the highest level of tannins (and alcohol) they had seen to date, yet it never steps over the line, as the tannins are supple and juicy and the crushed raspberry fruit is utterly moreish. Just 23% of the crop went into the blend, around half as much as they would have used even a decade earlier. 1% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. 60% new oak.

This is very tight and compact, with a condensed palate of currant and dark-berry character. A salty, mineral undertone to the wine. Full-bodied with firm, linear tannins. Focused and intense. Long and precise on the finish. This is the best ever second wine of Margaux. Drink after 2023.

The 2015 Pavillon Rouge is supremely inviting. Silky and medium in body, with wonderfully fragrant aromatics, the 2015 is a wine of total seduction. Bright red plum, mint, spice, cedar and white pepper are laced together in a racy wine endowed with terrific palate intensity and persistence. The 2015 is already quite open and delicious. I imagine it will continue to drink beautifully for the next 15-20 years or more.

Cherries, anise, tobacco and cigar box notes rise amid a floral background to create an incredibly elegant, refined, fresh, long and sweet wine. Lift, purity of fruit, substance and length make this the best vintage of Pavillon Rouge I have ever tasted -- a testament to Paul Pontallier. The wine was produced from a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, reaching 14.% ABV with pH of 3.67. Of the harvest, 23% was used for Pavillon Rouge du Margaux. This wine is better than any vintage of Margaux produced in the 1970's and with 2-3 exceptions, that same thing goes for the 80's too! 93 - 95 Pts

Dark ruby, purple reflections, slight brightening at the rim, intense red berry fruit, a hint of currant, a touch of spice, pleasant cherry fruit. Full-bodied, ripe sweet blackberry fruit, discreet fruit, mineral, a distinctive saltiness that lends the wine freshness, fine nougat on the finish, very good length.

The second wine of the estate is the 2015 Pavillon Rouge and it’s 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, raised in 60% new French oak. It’s a sensational wine in its own right, offering smokin’ good notes of crème de cassis, blueberries, toasted spices and plenty of minerality. Rich, full-bodied, opulent and concentrated with notable tannins, give bottles 4–5 years and enjoy over the following two decades or more.

Medium purple-garnet. Cherries and raspberries on a Burgundy-like bouquet, fine lactic hints, perfumed on the attack. Silky, easy-drinking palate, comes across as very light. But that’s usually how a Pavillon shows at the en primeur tasting, only to surprise with age. Very delicate and playful.

Dark garnet, fairly dense in the middle, ruby rim. Cherries and raspberries on a Burgundy-like bouquet, with fine lactic nuances, perfumed on the attack. Silky, moreish palate, comes across as very light. But that’s usually how a Pavillon shows at the en primeur tasting, only to surprise later on. Very delicate and playful.

A blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 1% Cabernet Franc, the 2015 Pavillon Rouge from Château Margaux has a medium to deep garnet color. It skips out of the glass with vibrant notes of warm black cherries, redcurrant jelly, and boysenberry preserves, plus hints of Chinese five spices, potpourri, and dusty soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has fantastic intensity with seductively opulent black and red fruit layers and a plush texture, finishing long and fragrant.

It is increasingly establishing itself as one of the greatest pavillons in history—intense, racy, complex, and truly representative of the estate’s style.

Irresistibly velvety, with a creamy palate and a silky finish, Pavillon Rouge 2015 is utterly charming.

Purple with violet hues. Intense, complex bouquet with a beautiful burst of fruit—blackberries, raspberries, blackcurrant—and a touch of eucalyptus. What splendid aromatic intensity on the palate! The wine is defined by freshness and structure, lending vibrancy and carrying the aromatic character through to the finish. Well-integrated tannins, slightly soft and in harmony with the acidity. Persistent, elegant finish.

93–95. Barrel Sample. With a high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a seriously structured wine. It is ripe with a shot of fine acidity and tannins that give the wine great shape and freshness. The structure is what will give this wine its longevity.