The 2021 du Tertre has turned out well in bottle, offering up aromas of dark, minty berries, pipe tobacco, orange zest and pencil shavings, followed by a medium-bodied, supple and suave palate built around velvety tannins and bright acids. This Cabernet-dominant blend represents a strong effort for this property, no doubt helped by the brave decision to sell off one-third of the production in bulk.

The 2021 du Tertre is a very pretty, elegant wine, bursting with aromas of wild berries, exotic spices, cigar box and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, ample and seamless, it's velvety and enveloping, with bright acids, beautifully refined tannins and a mouthwatering finish. The blend this year is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, a mere 10% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot. Occupying the highest point in the Margaux appellation (a lofty 25 meters), Ch?teau du Tertre in fact encompasses not one "tertre" (high point) but two, possessing both a 30-hectare block on fine gravels situated around the ch?teau itself and another 20-hectare block, separated only by a stream, on the plateau of Bel-Air where the gravels are sandier. Both are comparatively homogeneous and both inform the grand vin; and both are comparatively warm, well-draining terroirs, meaning that the vegetative cycle at du Tertre is quite advanced, and that even if the team here don't precipitate to harvest, this certainly isn't a late-ripening site. In the aftermath of the devastating 1956 frost, the Gasqueton family replanted the entire vineyard (as at Calon-S?gur) at the rather low density of 6,300 vines per hectare, with one-third Cabernet Sauvignon, one-third Cabernet Franc and one-third Merlot―an idiosyncratic enc?pagement for Margaux and one that tended to deliver somewhat lighter, leaner wines in years where the Cabernet Franc didn't fully ripen. In 1997, the Gasquetons sold to the Albada family, who began by restoring the estate's much-neglected buildings and proceeded, from 2008, to restructure the vineyards. Chemical herbicides were banished and extensive replanting began, increasing density to 9,100 vines per hectare, and adapting grape varieties to soil type. With du Tertre's sale in early 2020, restructuring continues. Only 30% of the vineyard remains to be replanted, a project that's projected to conclude in 2027. All these new plantings have been farmed biodynamically from their inception, and while du Tertre retains some old-vine Merlot and Cabernet Franc, from which a massale selection is being propagated, the proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon has increased and Petit Verdot, which works well on the lower parts of the slope, represents around 10%. Winemaking is quite classical, with harvesting by hand, optical sorting and vinification in a mix of wooden, cement and stainless steel vats. Technical director Fr?d?ric Ardouin, who conducted du Tertre's soil studies as a student in 2008, is at the helm in the winery, and Cynthia Capelaere is the new estate director. The style of wines produced here is quite singular: on the one hand distinctly elegant and fine-boned, but on the other displaying a certain generosity and sweetness of fruit (consistent with a well-exposed, well-drained, rather early-ripening site). The rather light style of yesteryear has been replaced by sneaky intensity of flavor and persistence. What's more, if du Tertre is operating in a similar stylistic register to some of the appellation's other champions of elegance, such as Brane Cantenac and Rauzan S?gla, its wines are also rather more immediate, with a youthful charm and seamlessness that means that even a classically styled vintage such as 2016 can already be drunk and not merely tasted. These are not the sort of wines that dominate in a mass tasting of more than 100 wines, but they are just the sort of wines that readers looking for harmonious, charming Margaux might want to have in their cellar.