2015 Château Kirwan, Margaux

About This Wine

The 2015 Château Kirwan from Margaux captures the generosity of a ripe Left Bank vintage while retaining the estate’s poised, floral signature. In the glass, it leans into dark cassis, black cherry, plum skin, and crushed violet, with more subtle notes of cedar, graphite, tobacco leaf, cocoa, and warm gravel emerging as it opens.

The 100% Petite Verdot fruit is polished and ample rather than heavy, framed by firm but refined tannins that give the wine its architectural Margaux shape. There is a pleasing tension between richness and restraint: the vintage supplies depth and sweetness of fruit, while the appellation brings perfume, freshness, and a graceful, almost silky progression across the palate. With air, the wine becomes more layered, showing hints of spice, pencil shavings, dried rose, and savory earth beneath the dark fruit. It feels entering a beautiful phase now, though it still has the structure and balance to develop further, especially for those who enjoy secondary notes of leather, cedar, and forest floor alongside the remaining fruit.

Score

96 points, Wine Enthusiast.