CROWD PULLER The magnificent Château Margaux
#3 A 16TH CENTURY ARISTOCRAT CHÂTEAU MARGAUX, FRANCE Z Signature Wine: Grand Vin de Margaux. ‘Fruity Bordeaux blends of the highest order’.
Chateau Margaux has been producing its name-dropping wines for the tables of princes and presidents since Louis XIV sat on the throne. Britain’s 18th century Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole got through 16 casks a year but rarely settled his bills! However it is the 19th century Neo-Palladian villa, nicknamed the Versailles of the Médoc, that draws visitors along the sweeping tree-lined driveway leading to one of Bordeaux’s original top four Premier Cru wineries, as classified by Emperor Napoleon’s tasters in 1855. Inspired by the Parthenon, complete with ionic columns, the wine world initially turned its snooty nose up when a Greek bought the estate but André
Mentzelopoulos kick-started the winery’s second golden age. Now his daughter and grandchildren have upped the ante, adding a new winery with a splendid glass Vinotheque tasting pavilion designed by Sir Norman Foster and, said the judges, ‘proving unafraid to experiment with new initiatives like using screw caps instead of corks’. Cellar tours are by appointment and stop at the château’s front door but every visitor gets to stroll down that regal driveway and dream a little. ›
TREASURE TROVE The cellars at Château Margaux © BRICE BRAASTAD
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