We opened a special bottle for my wife's birthday: the 2009 Château Margaux. We paired it with 60-day dry-aged ribeye steaks finished with a reverse sear, garlic mashed potatoes, Caesar salad, and tiramisu for dessert (All recipes from Serious Eats). As a point of contrast, we also opened a bottle of right bank Bordeaux, a 2021 Château Petit-Village. It was more representative of what we normally drink and in this instance it was really helpful to have a benchmark of what the Margaux wasn't.
We decanted both wines for 90 minutes before our first sips. In the glass, the Margaux showed its age beautifully. Compared to the Petit-Village's vibrant ruby red, the Margaux displayed a more evolved, rusty red that was reminiscent of the beaches of Prince Edward Island.
On the nose, I picked up blackberry, charcoal, violet, bell pepper, and anise. Although to be honest, I found it challenging to isolate individual notes. Everything flowed together seamlessly. Where other wines hit you with distinct aromatics in waves, the Margaux was like trying to identify individual instruments in an orchestra, each element present but so well integrated that it escaped words. Maybe not a problem for more refined palates but we didn't want to share 😉
Those first sips revealed a strong tannic structure that softened considerably over the four hours we enjoyed the wine. At 17 years, it's not a young wine but is still incredibly powerful, especially next to the Petit-Village. Will continue to age very well for decades although we'll probably open another bottle in 5 years. Thanks to the dry aging, the steaks had a beautiful nuttiness that paired incredibly well with the Margaux. When the individual parts of a meal are this good, the challenge is finding dishes that lift each other up rather than bring them down. The steak and the wine achieved that. The umami depth and concentrated flavors of the 60-day aged beef complemented the wine's evolving complexity, while the tannins, still present but increasingly supple, cut through the richness of the meat, each enhancing the other throughout the evening.
10/10 evening. No better way to celebrate a birthday.
by YEGYYZ