Du Tertre Margaux 2001

Château du Tertre takes its name from the ground beneath it: a single, unbroken block of vines crowning one of the highest gravel rises in Margaux, where deep, well-drained soils yield small, concentrated berries with the perfume and silky tannin that define the appellation. Unusually generous plantings of Cabernet Franc alongside Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot give the wine its lifted florals and grace. The 2001 captured the estate just as its late-1990s renovation began paying off, in a cool, classic vintage with a dry, luminous September that produced balanced, fresh, true clarets. Long overshadowed by the flashier 2000, the 2001s have quietly become the connoisseur's Bordeaux of that era, and this bottle delivers everything mature Margaux promises at a fraction of the price of its First and Second Growth neighbors.

Tasting note, 25 years on: Deep garnet with a gentle brick rim. The nose is pure mature Margaux, with dried violets, cassis and black cherry folded into cedar, pencil shavings, sweet tobacco, forest floor and a whisper of truffle. Medium-bodied and seamless on the palate, the fruit fully resolved yet still vibrant, the tannins melted to satin and the acidity keeping everything fresh and lifted, with Cabernet Franc's graphite minerality running through an elegant, weightless mid-palate to a long, gently spiced finish. Decant thirty minutes and serve with roast lamb or duck. In its sweet spot now, with a decade of life ahead.