Margaux 1998, 1999, 2001

The 1998 Margaux vintage produced wines of genuine aromatic finesse and early accessible charm, and Château Prieuré-Lichine’s 1998 earned praise from Robert Parker, who found it finesse-driven and delicious with abundant berry fruit, cassis and spice box, and encouraged collectors to take a closer look at this property which appeared to be making better wines.

The 1999 Margaux vintage produced wines of genuine floral delicacy and medium-bodied aromatic elegance, with the appellation’s scattered gravelly and sandy soils delivering the fragrant, violet-inflected character for which Margaux is celebrated. Prieuré-Lichine’s 1999 sits at a pivotal moment in the estate’s history, produced during the final year of the Sacha Lichine era before the estate’s sale to Groupe Ballande and the subsequent renaissance under Stéphane Derenoncourt’s consultancy.

The 2001 Margaux harvest produced wines of pretty, floral delicacy and genuine aromatic nuance, with the appellation’s finest estates delivering wines of real elegance and medium-bodied charm. Château Prieuré-Lichine’s 2001 was the second vintage produced under new ownership by Groupe Ballande, with Stéphane Derenoncourt newly engaged as consulting oenologist and a programme of replanting and lees-ageing already underway. Robert Parker praised the renaissance taking place at the estate, describing this as an elegant blend of pretty, delicate floral, red currant, cranberry and black fruit characteristics bottled unfined and unfiltered with good density and accessible structure.

Prieuré-Lichine is one of Margaux’s most historically layered Fourth Growths, its Benedictine priory origins traceable to the Middle Ages and its modern identity forged by Alexis Lichine, the Russian-American Pope of Wine who purchased and transformed it from 1951. The blend for this vintage is 49% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc.