Château Margüi Côteaux Varois En Provence Rouge 2015

Elegance and purity with power characterize Château Margüi’s 2015 Côteaux Varois Rouge. From the moment the wine is poured, it tantalizes the senses. The wine’s brilliant ruby/purple robe captivates the eye, while an enchanting bouquet of floral scents, dark cherries, exotic spices, and well-integrated oak tones entertain the nose. Moreover, the wine’s pleasing aromas have happily seeped into the marrow of the wine, filling the mouth with an explosion of cherry fruit, spice and racy tannins. The wine’s polished tannins lend structure to the wine, promising a long illustrious life and even greater rewards to come. Although still in its infancy, the 2015 Château Margüi Côteaux Varois is eminently enjoyable now but will most certainly pay dividends with another year or two in bottle. For optimum enjoyment we suggest affording this prestigious Provençal classic at least 30 minutes of aeration before serving at cool room temperature (60° F). Enjoy!

Steak rubbed with olive oil, garlic and Provençal herbs before being seared and grilled to perfection with all of its juices gets our first nod to serve with a bottle of the youthful 2015 Château Margüi Côteaux Varois Rouge. Lamb, in almost any form, provides a splendid accompaniment to any fine Provençal red wine as well. However, Château Margüi’s Côteaux Varois Rouge can truly run the food gauntlet, pairing admirably with dishes as varied as Vegetable Lasagna, Lobster Ravioli, and Gnocchi stuffed with braised veal, porcini mushrooms, and a hint of Pecorino cheese. A simple Rosemary Roasted Chicken served with mashed potatoes, butternut squash, and ratatouille provides another fine accompaniment. But you need not stop there, as Château Margüi’s Côteaux Varois Rouge will complement almost any meat, game, or grilled vegetable combination.

Provence has the ability to capture the heart as well as the palate. It is for me and many others, including the proprietors of Château Margüi, the most beautiful and glorious wine country of France. As Renoir and the Impressionists found a way to capture the brilliant light of Provence and paint it on canvas, Philippe Guillanton has discovered how to pour the beauty and luminosity of Provence into each glass of Château Margüi wine.

Philippe Guillanton worked as an agent for Yahoo, where he essentially opened Europe to Yahoo. In the process, he made a small fortune. As Philippe tells it, he wanted a home where his then wife Maria could create a beautiful formal garden. While searching, the couple came upon Château Margüi, an old manor house on a picturesque wooded hilltop near the village of Châteauvert in the Côteaux Varois, deep in the heart of Provence. The region is famous for its spectacular hills, cliffs and grottos as well as the scintillating wind known as the mistral that scours the countryside clean and illuminates the landscape. Côteaux Varois also serves as a renowned paradise for hikers and climbers, and of course great wine. Long a haven for artists and artisans, Châteauvert is an idyllic little village that prides itself on being a completely “green” village: everything in the village is organic, including Château Margüi.

The purchase of Château Margüi is the classic little old lady story: the manor was inhabited by an elderly lady who could no longer care for the property and realized she must sell it. The estate was completely run down, the vineyards and olive groves had been abandoned, and the house was grand but falling apart. Perfect! The Guillantons bought the property and immediately began restoration of the vineyards, winery and manor house. Château Margüi’s wines quickly became sought after by the top restaurants and wine shops on the French Riviera. Phillipe soon found himself making deliveries to the restaurants of Alain Ducasse and others in Nice and St. Tropez. He transitioned the property to certified organic and he has moved beyond organic to even stricter biodynamic methods of viticulture. Only 1,000 cases of the Château Margüi Côteaux Varois Rouge are produced each year and it appears in only a few fine establishments in the U.S. In addition to fashioning fine red, white and rosé wines, Château Margüi produces a first class Extra Virgin olive oil from the estate’s olives.

In 2017 Star Wars director George Lucas and Skywalker Vineyards purchased Château Margüi from Philippe Guillanton, but they have wisely retained Philippe to continue tending the vines and making extraordinary wine at Château Margüi.