Chateau Marquis de Terme

The history of Chateau Marquis de Terme began with the noble Gassies family, who maintained a large estate in Margaux in the Middle Ages. The estate first passed into the hands of Bernard de Faverolles, before it was acquired by Pierre des Mesures de Rauzan in 1661.

His estate gave rise to a number of smaller units that still exist today, including Rauzan-Segla and Rauzan-Gassies, as well as Desmirail and Marquis de Terme. This property was a dowry during the marriage of Elizabeth de Ledoulx d’Emplet to the Marquis de Termes, Francois de Peguilhan de Larboust.

The newlyweds started off with 30 hectares of vineyards, and the wine enjoyed good reputation and thus good price, matching those of the leading properties such as Lascombes. Even Thomas Jefferson made a positive assessment following his visit there in 1787.

Following the death of the Marquis the estate was acquired by Halvorous Sollberg in 1809, a Bordeaux negociant of Swedish origin. Later his business floundered and in 1834 he fled the country having built a considerable debt, so the property was sold off and acquired by another Bordeaux negociant Mac-Daniel.

But in 1845 once all the outstanding debts were paid off, the property was returned to Halvorous Sollberg, but his son again failed financially and had to sell the estate in 1898, to Jean Feuillerat. Jean then passed to his son Armand, who held sway over the vines until his death in 1935, and was then sold to Pierre Seneclauze, a wine merchant from Marseilles.

Today it is owned by Pierre’s sons, Jean, Philippe and Pierre-Louis. The vineyards account for about 38 hectares, with the largest section on the Labegorce plateau near Chateau Lascombes, with the terroir is typical gravel soil over clay.

There are another plot around the chateau on fine gravel, and another two at Aux Gondats and Cantenac. The vines are predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon at 55%, with Merlot of 35%, Petit Verdot at 7% and Cabernet Franc at 3%, planted at a density of 10000 vines/ha.

Average vine age is 35 years and are harvested by hand before destemmed, crushed and fermented in the winery. The winery was constructed in 1981, fitted with temperature-control concrete vats. Pumping over is done once each day to submerge the cap, and after maceration between 3-4 weeks and malolactic in vat, the wines are assessed.

Then the wines go into oak barrels, of which one third are new each vintage, for up to 18 months. The grand vin is Chateau Marquis de Terme with 12000 cases and the second wine Les Gondats de Marquis de Terme of 2500 cases.

I have recently tasted the 2005 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it has deep ruby color, with narrow garnet rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas of black fruit such as blackcurrant, blackberry, oak notes of cedar, sweet spice of licorice, maturity notes of savory, mineral notes of earth, kernel notes of coffee and milk chocolate. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium acidity, the wine has medium (+) tannin of ripe and velvety texture, with medium alcohol and full body. It has medium (+) intensity flavors of black fruit such as blackcurrant, plum and blackberry, oak notes of cedar, kernel notes of coffee, sweet spice of licorice, dairy notes of cream. The wine has a medium finish.

Conclusion

Good quality Margaux with a fairly intense nose of good complexity, the wine has a nice palate, balancing well on all front and showing harmony, as well as exhibiting good concentration and a fair length. It is an all-rounded wine, a typical example of a nice Margaux in a good vintage. Ready to drink now and can be maintained for another 3-5 years.