By Chateau Dauzac
Margaux Grand Cru Classe 2021

Vintage Notes
One vintage follows another, but no two are alike. The 2021 vintage called for a lot of patience and commitment. We worked relentlessly to protect our vines from disease pressure. The vintage began with an especially mild and rainy winter. Bud break was uniform and occurred early, but the extra-cold and rainy spring meant the head start was soon lost. During a frost spell in April, Chateau Dauzac's vineyards were protected due to its proximity to the Gironde estuary, which acts as a natural thermal regulator. Flowering began around May 25th in ideally warm and dry weather. June was especially rainy, with approximately 127% more rain than average. At times, the rain impacted flowering, with traces of coulure (also known as shatter) and millerandage. The cold, damp summer called for watchfulness at all times. Mildew pressure increased and was more intense. Preventing the mildew from developing was one of the summer's main goals. Veraison was delayed in our earliest-ripening Merlot plots and ended October 13th with our grand Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, which managed to take advantage of sunny days after the rainy spell in early October. Plot-by-plot selection and meticulous sorting of the harvested grapes allowed for high-quality winemaking. The wine is reminiscent of the past century's great vintages: aromas of crisp fruit, lots of subtlety, and great length on the palate. It has the freshness and structure that made Bordeaux wines so famous.

Tasting Comments
The 2021 vintage is both subtle and complex. Pure, fresh fruit attack gives way to a full, silky mouthfeel where the red fruit and minty notes fuse. The fleshy, velvety texture provides a very nice length.

Vineyard Details
Surface Area: 42 hectares
Soil: Deep, gravelly hilltops
Rootstocks: 101-14, Riparia Gloire, and 3309
Plant Density: 10,000 vine stocks per hectare
Average Vine Age: 35-40 years old
Varietals Planted: 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot
Pruning: Double Guyot system with de-budding
Harvest: By hand in small crates, table sorting before and after destemming

Winemaking Details
Final Blend: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot
Vinification: Use of a gravity-flow cellar to supply the fermenting room
Fermentation: In wooden casks with dual transparent staves, allowing us to rethink our method of pumping-over and optimize macerations; fermentation temperature 28 degrees C; malolactic fermentation
Fining: If needed, with plant proteins
Aging: 100% in French oak barrels (65% new) for 15 months with racking, depending on vintage
Alcohol: 13.00%
Aging Potential: At its best, between 5 and 20 years of age, but can keep up to 20-30 years
[Information provided by DHI Selections]

Wine: Chateau Dauzac 2021 Margaux
Score/Rating: 94 - Cellar Selection
Suggested Drinking Window: Drink this fine wine from 2027 
Review Date: 11/01/2024
Reviewed By: Roger Voss
Tasting Notes: With 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine reveals structure and a firm core. Coming from the most southerly classed growth vineyard in Margaux, it is rich, balanced and elegant. Drink this fine wine from 2027.

Wine: Chateau Dauzac, Margaux, 5eme Cru Classe, Bordeaux, 2021
Score/Rating: 93
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025 - 2035
Review Date: 11/30/2023
Reviewed By: Georgina Hindle
Tasting Notes: Green peppercorns, blackcurrant leaf, curry powder. Supple and nicely ripe fruit on the palate - blackcurrant, black cherry - lovely high acidity with freshness and brightness. The minerality and wet stone aspects come in quite quickly, adding a nuance and just taking over the fun, making this quite serious, although there's lovely acidity all the way through. Nicely constructed and delivered. Easy to enjoy. Has lift and energy which sustains the palate. A success.

Wine: 2021 Dauzac
Score/Rating: 92
Suggested Drinking Window: 2028 - 2046
Review Date: 12/2023
Reviewed By: Antonio Galloni
Tasting Notes: The 2021 Dauzac is pliant and super-expressive right out of the gate. Black cherry, espresso, licorice, dried herbs, menthol and lavender fill out the layers nicely. Bright acids play off the wine's succulent textures. The 2021 offers notable depth, but it is not as opulent as most years. As I have noted before, that is not a bad thing.

Wine: Chateau Dauzac Margaux 2021
Score/Rating: 92
Suggested Drinking Window: Drink from 2025
Review Date: 11/21/2023 
Reviewed By: Claire Nesbitt
Tasting Notes: Pretty nose of hazelnuts, plums, cedar, ground coriander and dark currants. Polished and creamy with rounded tannins, a medium body and a juicy finish. 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot. [...] Drink from 2025.

Wine: 2021 Chateau Dauzac (Margaux)
Score/Rating: 91
Suggested Drinking Window: Drink from 2025-2040
Review Date: 03/09/2024
Tasting Notes: The wine has filled out after its aging in barrel, so, now you find a minty, floral, red cherry-filled, medium-bodied, soft, supple wine with a slight touch of espresso, spearmint and currants in the mid-palate and in the almost, polished finish. You can enjoy this early for all of its soft, ripe, red fruits. Drink from 2025-2040.

Wine: 2021 Dauzac
Score/Rating: (89-90)
Review Date: 04/29/2022
Reviewed By: William Kelley
Tasting Notes: The 2021 Dauzac shows promise, exhibiting aromas of dark berries and plums mingled with spices, petals and a deft touch of creamy oak. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and vibrant, it's quite rich and muscular but also - and judiciously - a touch less extracted than recent vintages at this address.

Wine: 2021 Dauzac
Score/Rating: 89
Suggested Drinking Window: 2026-2034
Review Date: 04/23/2024
Reviewed By: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Tasting Notes: The 2021 Dauzac has a deep garnet-purple color. It features oaky overtones to begin, giving way to notes of black cherries and cassis, plus a touch of black olives. Medium-bodied, the palate has a good core of oak-laced fruit, with a grainy texture and a savory finish.

Wine: Chateau Dauzac Margaux 2021
Score/Rating: 88
Suggested Drinking Window: Drink now through 2030
Review Date: 01/15/2024
Reviewed By: James Molesworth
Tasting Notes: Sports an ambitiously toasty edge that throws off cocoa and roasted alder notes, which helps to offset the vintage's deficiencies, even though the actual core of dark cherry fruit, dried violet and black tea flavors is more modest in scale. You'll need to drink this soon, though, to avoid the fruit being outlasted by the wood treatment. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2024 through 2030. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.

Wine: Ch Dauzac 2021 Margaux
Score/Rating: 16.5/20
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025 - 2033
Review Date: 02/12/2025
Date Tasted: 28 Jan 2025
Reviewed By: Jancis Robinson
Tasting Notes: Tasted blind. Deep crimson. Slightly muddy nose. Cool and fresh and a bit simple, but perfectly nice for current drinking! (JR)