D’un point de vue géologique, le terroir de Clos Floridène ressemble ici beaucoup à celui de Barsac. Une mince couche de sables argileux riches en oxyde de fer, « les sables rouges du Barsacais », recouvre le sous-sol calcaire. Cette dalle rocheuse limite la profondeur d’enracinement de la vigne à environ 50 cm. Au cours de l’été, le calcaire finement poreux restitue à la vigne l’eau dont il s’est imbibé pendant l’hiver, évitant une contrainte hydrique excessive. Une petite partie du vignoble de Clos Floridene (3,1 hectares), sur la commune d’Illats, occupe une croupe argilo-graveleuse.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 87-89/100
The 2023 Clos Floridène has an open, redcurrant, wild strawberry and sous-bois bouquet that needs a little more vigor. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. Cohesive with a touch of white pepper and clove toward the finish, this is balanced yet needs a little more brightness and tension.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 89-91/100
The 2023 La Tour de Mons is a pleasant, fruity Margaux to drink young while the flavors remain vibrant. Succulent red cherry, spice, blood orange and pomegranate take center stage. Tour de Mons is not especially complex, but it is tasty.

Vinous – Neil Martin – 92-94/100
The 2023 Labégorce has a well-defined nose that leans slightly more toward red than black fruit. It’s understated at first but soon coheres and gains intensity. The palate is medium-bodied with very pliant tannins. Satin-like in texture and very cohesive, with a touch of spice on the finish, this is a classy Margaux that will give a great deal of pleasure over the next 15 to 20 years. Warning through: it will be difficult to resist in its youth.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 92-94/100
The 2023 Marquis de Terme is a dense, powerful Margaux. Black cherry, plum, chocolate, new leather, espresso and cloves are all amplified, lending the 2023 tons of textural volume and richness. All the elements are so well balanced. This is a fine vintage for Marquis de Terme, a wine that has improved markedly in recent years. 

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 93-95/100
The 2023 Marquis d’Alesme is impressive. Raspberry jam, blood orange, white flowers, mint and lavender abound. Silky, elegant tannins wrap it all together in style. A closing burst of bright acids and lifted floral notes lends the last kick of resonance. Classy, elegant and polished, the 2023 is one of the best recent editions I have encountered. Tasted two times.

Vinous – Neil Martin – 92-94/100
The 2023 Malescot Saint Exupéry was cropped at 38hL/ha, picked a day later than the previous year. Lea Zuger told me that they now use six foudres installed in November, meaning there is 60% new oak—less than other vintages. Barrel-maturation will be 14 to 16 months. Whereas in 2022, nearly all the estate’s fruit went into the Grand Vin, this year it represents 75% of the volume. Displaying blackberry and briar on the nose, this demands some coaxing from the glass. There’s just a light, confit-like aroma in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with a fine structure, slightly powdery tannins, modest weight and noticeably fresh acidity and salinity, the latter especially prominent toward the finish. More classically hewn compared to the 2022, this will require five or six years in bottle. Classy.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 92-94/100
The 2023 Malescot St. Exupéry is a powerful Margaux that will need a bit of time to come together. Potent tannins wrap around a core of red/purplish fruit, lavender, mint and dried herbs. These days, Malescot is not quite as unyielding as it used to be, but this remains a decidedly old-school Margaux in style and overall philosophy.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 96-98/100
The 2023 Rauzan-Ségla is fabulous. Rich, dense and explosive, the 2023 soars out of the glass with captivating aromatics. Readers will find a vertical, deep Margaux endowed with tremendous character and nuance. All the elements are so well-balanced. Crushed rocks, plum, blood orange, spice and leather are some of the notes that explode into the finish. In 2023, the Grand Vin is distinctly red-fruited and vibrant. Rauzan-Ségla is one of the most memorable wines of the vintage. It was nothing short of stellar on the four occasions I tasted it.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 92-94/100
The 2023 La Sirène de Giscours is, quite frankly, a sensational second
wine. Dark, resonant and imposing, the 2023 dazzles from start to
finish. Here, too, I am so impressed by the wine’s balance and richness.
Black cherry, lavender, sweet spice and mocha build in the glass,
leading to an explosive finish supported by big tannins.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 96-98/100
The 2023 Giscours is the very best wine I have ever tasted here. Giscours has been knocking on the door of Bordeaux’s elite for a few years now. Two thousand twenty-three is the year in which Giscours joins the region’s big boys and girls. A towering, majestic Margaux, the 2023 dazzles from start to finish. What a wine!

Vinous – Neil Martin – 92-95/100
The 2023 Durfort-Vivens is a very pretty, understated wine. In 2023, Durfort is marked by a brighter profile than usual: red fruit, blood orange and flowers. Medium in body and persistent, with good energy and very fine balance, the 2023 is promising. Even though it’s showing a touch of oak at this stage, this layered and sumptuous offering is showing well.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 93-96/100
The 2023 Cantenac Brown is concentrated, ample and generous right out of the gate. Blackberry, incense, new leather, tobacco, menthol and chocolate are all amplified to the maximum. As is often the case, Cantenac Brown is one of the more extroverted wines in Margaux. It’s a style that works so well. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2023 needs time to shed some of its baby fat.

Vinous – Neil Martin – 91-93/100
The 2023 Cantenac Brown, now with its new eco-friendly winery under the helm of winemaker José Sanfins, has a lot of fruit intensity on the nose: blackberry and wild strawberry, with touches of melted tar and sous-bois. It’s quite forward and more fruit-driven that expected. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded, very pliant tannins. It’s impressively weighty and notably focused, though maybe not quite delivering the complexity and terroir expression on the finish as I found with the previous vintage.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 94-96/100
The 2023 Brane-Cantenac is a sensual, silky wine. There’s plenty of depth and structure behind that, but the first impression is most definitely one of elegance. Crushed flowers, spice and dried herbs meld into a core of super-expressive, dark, red-toned fruit. The 100% new oak is impeccably balanced within the wine’s frame. Brane-Cantenac remains one of the best relative values in Bordeaux, or anywhere, for that matter. This is a fine effort from proprietor Henri Lurton and his team. Tasted two times.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 91-93/100
The 2023 Dauzac is a racy, heady wine. Although by no means the last word in complexity, Dauzac offers plenty of immediacy and overall appeal. Red/purplish-hued fruit, spice and floral notes open effortlessly. Dauzac is pretty intense texturally but not overdone, as it was a few years ago. It’s a stylish Margaux to enjoy over the next 15-20 years.