Château Margaux 1991 price at Arden Fine Wines
Although not at the level of the great 1990, Margaux 1991 is a very good wine for this unloved Bordeaux vintage.
A frost wiped out a lot of Bordeaux vines on 21-22 April 1991, destroying new shoots.
As if that wasn’t enough to deal with, September rains caused rot.
However, Margaux – in an area where the grapes ripen up to ten days before other parts of the Médoc – picked its grapes quickly and selectively as the rains came.
About 2,500 bottles of wine were made per hectare of vineyards; the usual would be 3,000-4,000+.
It is arguably the best Bordeaux wine of 1991.
Château Margaux 1991 price available here.
Château Margaux 1991 vintage
1991 was the year of the great spring frost on 21st April.
The cold delayed vine growth until the end of May.
But an extraordinarily hot, dry summer allowed the vegetation to catch up and brought this very small harvest to an excellent level of ripeness.
Unfortunately, heavy rain just before the harvest took the shine off what would have been a remarkable vintage.
The picking began on 30th September.
The frost on April 21st struck the vineyard in some parts more than in others.
The Merlot which grows mostly on the limestone and clay soils on the lower part of the property, closer to the river, was 100% frozen.
Fortunately, Margaux’s Cabernet Sauvignon on the gravelly slopes which “look out over the river” was partly spared.
But in the majority of cases, all the bunches that came from second generation buds that had grown a few weeks after the frost had to be removed at veraison.
Right up to the harvest it was hoped that these conditions, which were looking very similar to those of 1945 and 1961, would also produce a great vintage, but at the last moment hopes were dashed by the rain.
Château Margaux 1991 is an amazingly dense and young wine, still almost a little austere.
There is no rush to drink it as we believe it will develop further.