Château-Malescot-St.-Exupery Margaux 2018

A seductive Margaux with an intense nose of black fruit and red plums. Some herb and wood notes, too. It’s full-bodied with pretty, pure-berry flavors with some crushed stones and cement. The texture is silky and fine-grained and the tannins melt into the wine. Precise, flavorful finish with length. Try after 2024.

Tasted twice and showing incredibly well both times, the 2018 Château Malescot Saint-Exupery comes from a 28-hectare vineyard in the heart of Margaux and is a rough blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. This full-bodied Margaux has everything you could want from this appellation, offering incredibly complex notes of cassis, tobacco, earth, and spice, full body, sweet tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. It’s an incredibly sexy, flawlessly balanced beauty that’s going to be relatively approachable in its youth yet age effortlessly on its balance and purity. 94-96

Lovely, with gently mulled plum, blackberry and black currant fruit sailing through atop a velvety structure while mouthwatering bay, black tea and iron notes flow underneath. Seductive, detailed finish lets a sanguine note echo longest. Gorgeous wine. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2023 through 2036. 9,183 cases made.

The medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2018 Malescot St. Exupery leaps from the glass with expressive scents of baked blackberries, Morello cherries and boysenberries with hints of blackcurrant cordial, dark chocolate, licorice and tilled soil. The medium to full-bodied palate has impressive intensity without heaviness, delivering mouth-coating black fruits and a firm, grainy texture, finishing with a refreshing earthy lift.

92-94. Barrel Sample. This up-and-coming estate has produced a rich, generous wine. Its tannins are open and broad, giving power to the black currant flavor and fine acidity. It will certainly be an attractive, fruity and fresh wine as it matures.