Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux
Pavillon Rouge 2024 is once again a faithful expression of the terroir and our demanding standards. It represents 28% of the harvest, reflecting the rigorous selection we make every year. The vintage’s weather conditions particularly favoured the plots dedicated to the Grand Vin and Pavillon Rouge. Located on the best-drained terroirs, less prone to excess humidity, these vines were more resistant to the heavy rain and outbreaks of downy mildew, which mainly affected the cooler, deeper soils. Furthermore, the cabernet sauvignon, the predominant grape variety in our blend, proved to be more resilient to these conditions than the merlot. The Pavillon Rouge 2024 blend is 77% cabernet sauvignon, giving it structure and length, accompanied by 11% merlot, 9% cabernet franc and 3% petit verdot. This vintage stands out for its freshness, with a subtle harmony between liveliness and roundness, and particularly silky tannins. The wine’s complex aromatic expression offers superb precision, making it both refined and intense.
Margaux
Climate
Weather factors impacting the 2024 vintage began in 2023 with exceptional amounts of rain. From autumn onwards, there was an unusually intense accumulation of rainfall for several months. Between the 18th of October and the 28th of March, more than 1,000 mm of rain fell in the vineyard, surpassing the previous record for rainiest vintage by 300 mm. With mild winter temperatures, 3°C higher than historical averages in March, the abundance of water and warmth provided ideal conditions for the vines to start their growth cycle well ahead of schedule. Bud break occurred between the 22nd and 25th of March, 7 to 10 days earlier than in recent years. However, the wet weather continued, setting the pace for the entire growing season. While some past great vintages, such as 2000, had similar rainfall, what set 2024 apart was the frequency of rainy days. Access to the plots became a constant challenge, and the omnipresent threat of downy mildew meant that teams had to remain vigilant at all times. In this challenging context, flowering was slightly delayed, spanning from the 31st of May to the 7th of June. Véraison, when the grapes change colour, took place between the 9th and 23rd of August, and was reminiscent of vintages such as 2014 and 2016, confirming a growth cycle significantly influenced by wet weather. Faced with these conditions, the vines reacted in contrasting fashions. Plots with very cool, deep soil suffered from downy mildew, particularly affecting the volumes destined for our third wine, Margaux du Château Margaux. Conversely, our gravelly terroirs, with better drainage and earlier ripening, were able to preserve their potential and produce some of the finest grapes of the vintage. While the weather conditions put the vines to the test, they did not compromise the exacting stan - dards and precision with which our teams work on every Château Margaux vintage. With an average yield of 30 hl/ha, the sorting carried out by our pickers in the vineyards was more rigorous than ever, highlighting the most resilient terroirs and offering an optimal balance between concentra - tion and finesse.