1976 Margaux, 1975 Warres

1976 Ch. Margaux - An exercise in wine thanatology as this is from the Ginestet era when Margaux was scraping the bottom of the barrel (recovery didn't take place until the 1978 vintage..The nose on this brown edged wine was actually very presentable, but it was lacking on palate, with insufficient fruit to balance out the remaining tannins and finished short. I was strangely drawn to the corpse, however, and my friend and I finished most of the bottle in a sort of wake while thinking good thoughts about better vintages.

1975 Warres - I've always liked 1975 Ports more than many people seem to. Now getting quite pale in colour, the wine had a warm spicy nose, decent body and medium length elegant finish.

I have tasted the 1970 and 75 Ch. Margaux, but not the 1976. Yes, this was a bad era for Ch. Margaux. The 70 and 75 still are drinking fairly well, but are considerably below the quality expected for a 1st growth

- somewhat lacking in fruit, complexity, and balance. I have had very mixed results for 76 red Bordeaux in general. Some were very good and held well; others started turning brown quite early and now are ready to pour down the sink. So I would not consider a 76 of much importance in judging the average style of a wine. At least your 76 Ch. Margaux was still drinkable, which is more than you can say for many 76s from estates that usually make a long-lasting, at least decent, wine in most years that do not have severe problems with the vintage.