Wines

For his flagship Margaux, Christophe vinifies each variety and each parcel separately, adopting different vinification techniques based on the cépage, and all fermentations occur spontaneously. Comprising all six red grape varieties allowed in the region, this blends just over 60% Cabernet Sauvignon with around 25% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 4% each Malbec and Petit Verdot, and 2% Carmenère. It spends 18 months mostly in 225-liter barriques (25% of which are new), with some 600-liter tonneaux, and the occasional clay jar and concrete hexagon. The finished wine displays gorgeous harmony, with taut red fruits mingling with a mouthcoating sense of river rocks, and a just-so level of extraction that holds the wine together without contributing any hardness. Certified organic.

Most vintages, Christophe bottles a “Quintessence”—a selection of the very best barrels which he gives an additional six months or so of élevage. Often, this bottling contains a slightly higher proportion of Petit Verdot and a lower proportion of Merlot than the basic Margaux, and it is neither richer nor firmer than its counterpart; instead, it is simply deeper and more complex—a “quintessentially” sensuous Margaux the likes of which are difficult to come by. Certified organic.