Retail Team | March 16, 2024
Château Margaux, the sole First Growth of the Margaux appellation, has been producing a second wine since the start of the 17th century. In 1908, the cuvée was named Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux and has since entered Left Bank legend.
Today, the Pavillon Rouge is perennially in the running for the best second wine in Bordeaux. As the reputation of the cuvée has reached new levels of renown, Château Margaux’s technical director Philippe Bascaules has allocated greater resources to the production of the second wine.
Drawn from the same deep, gravelly, well-draining soils that produce Château Margaux’s flagship wine, the Pavillon Rouge displays silky grace, freshness, and polished elegance. It typically makes up about 30% of the estate’s production, with Cabernet Sauvignon anchoring the blend and delivering concentration and fine-grained tannins.
Sotheby’s Wine is thrilled to present several standout vintages of the Pavillon Rouge that demonstrate why this has become one of Bordeaux’s most sought-after wines of any classification in recent years.
The oldest vintage featured here, the 2009, earned praise from Vinous as “probably the best Pavillon Rouge ever made and is my candidate for the best second wine of the year,” wrote critic Ian D’Agata.
