TERROIR PROFILE
Margaux
Finesse terroir on lean gravel
Margaux: the Médoc's perfume — violets and silk instead of pure muscle.
Climate, site & wine
Lean, permeable gravel soils with varying amounts of clay, sand and some limestone force the vines to produce small berries. Cabernet Sauvignon dominates, with Merlot and Petit Verdot adding roundness and spice.
The wines are fragrant, with violet, black and red berries, cedar and fine, silky tannin; they are less massive than in Pauillac. Margaux is regarded as the most delicate and perfumed style among the great Médoc communes.
TERROIR PROFILE · Bordeaux
Margaux Finesse terroir on lean gravel
Margaux: the Médoc's perfume — violets and silk instead of pure muscle.
SOILS
Gravel / Sandlight, approachable
Gravel and sand drain heavily — vines struggle for water, wines turn fine, light and elegant.
Limestoneprecise, mineral
Limestone delivers tension, structure and a cooler, more mineral character.
Sandaromatic, approachable
Loose sand and wind-blown sand warm up quickly and hold little water — they give aromatic, early-drinking wines with soft tannins; phylloxera-resistant.
Loambody-rich, velvety
Loamy soils give wines volume and a soft, velvety mouthfeel.
CLIMATE · Maritime
Oceanic climate right on the Gironde. The thin, stony gravel soils warm up quickly, the river dampens frost and the pine forests to the west shield the vines from Atlantic winds. Rainy autumns remain the risk.
TOPOGRAPHY · gentle
The appellation stretches from Arsac in the southwest to Labarde in the east, with Margaux and Cantenac in the centre and Soussans in the north, south of Saint-Julien. The soils are regarded as the thinnest and most gravel-rich of the Médoc, lying over a Tertiary terrace of limestone or clay-marl.
WHAT IT MEANS IN THE GLASS
Similar terroirs worldwide
Computed from fingerprint similarity
Mittelhaardt
Palatinate
96% similar
- Minerality (slightly): Margaux is less mineral → fruit-led, rounder (5 vs. 6).
Rheinhessen-Mitte
Rheinhessen
96% similar
- Body (slightly): Margaux gives more body → fuller, more powerful wines (7 vs. 6).
Wineries on this terroir
See all 32 →Château Margaux
Margaux
Renown 93/100
Château Palmer
Margaux
Renown 88/100
Château Rauzan-Ségla
Margaux
Renown 86/100
Château Rauzan-Gassies
Lesparre-Médoc
Renown 86/100
Château Brane-Cantenac
Lesparre-Médoc
Renown 86/100
Château Durfort-Vivens
Lesparre-Médoc
Renown 86/100
Château Lascombes
Margaux
Renown 86/100
Château Marquis d’Alesme -
Margaux
Renown 82/100
This terroir's soils in the glossary