Am I being too stingy with the 2003 Chateau Margaux? A wine of extraordinary complexity and intensity, it reveals a deep purple color, a style not unlike the 1990 Margaux (possibly even more concentrated), a velvety texture, and notes of spring flowers interwoven with camphor, melted licorice, creme de cassis, and pain grille. Not a blockbuster, it offers extraordinary intensity as well as a surreal delicacy/lightness. There is riveting freshness to this offering, which tips the scales at a lofty (for this estate) 13.5% alcohol, as well as an alluring sweetness and accessibility. It probably will tighten up over the next few years. Nevertheless, it is a profound Chateau Margaux that brings to mind a hypothetical blend of the 1982 and 1990. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2035.

Robert Parker Jr - Wine Advocate #164 April 2006

A wine with spices, meat, and very ripe fruit on the nose, with hints of dried flowers. Full bodied, and deeply layered, with loads of fruit and spices. Long and decadent, very complex. Pull the cork after 2013.

James Suckling - jamessuckling.com, March 14th 2011

Tasted at Bordeaux Index’s “10-Year On” tasting in London. The 2003 Chateau Margaux has a lovely nose with superb delineation – blackberry, cedar, minerals and wilted violets. To be brutally honest, it is clearly streets ahead of Palmer that was tasted in tandem. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and (hoorah!) a decent thread of acidity. It is not a complex Margaux, but it has personality, fine balance, elegance and admirable tension and race towards the finish. This First Growth shows its class. Excellent. Tasted March 2013.

Neal Martin - Wine Journal May 2013

Tasted blind as a vintage comparison at the Valandraud vertical, the 2003 Margaux is fully mature on the nose. There is ample fruit here, well defined for the vintage with blackberry and cedar, this bottle demonstrating a subtle fungal character that I have not discerned in previous bottles. There are faint scents of rust iron piping that develop with further aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly dry tannin, offering more fruit than the 2003 Valandraud it was paired with: feisty black pepper and allspice finish with a decent aftertaste. There might be better bottles than this, even so, there is probably not another Margaux that touches this First Growth. I see no harm in broaching bottles now and over the next ten years. Tasted December 2016.

Neal Martin - The Wine Advocate, 28 February 2017