Bordeaux profile: Château Kirwan

Continuing his tour of the classed growths of the Médoc, db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay arrives at Château Kirwan, a Margaux third growth whose reputation has been slowly transformed. 

Château Kirwan is a Margaux third growth on 37 hectares of clay-gravel soils on the plateau of Cantenac in the southern half of the appellation. It is a property whose reputation has been slowly transformed since the arrival in 2007 as general manager of Philippe Delfaut from Palmer (where he had held the post of technical director since 1996). It is now widely regarded as one of the most consistent and authentic of Margaux classed growths.

The property itself takes its name from Mark Kirwan, an Irish merchant from the port of Galway, one of the famous ‘wine geese’ who flocked to Bordeaux on the basis of their success importing wine in the mid 18^th century. Shortly after his arrival in Bordeaux and his marriage to the daughter of the then owner, Sir John Collingwood, Kirwan acquired what was then Domaine de Lassalle, duly re-baptising it Château Kirwan – the name it would take in the 1855 classification in which it was identified as a third growth.

When Kirwan died the property to which he had given his name passed to the Jean-Pierre Godard and, subsequently, to his son, Camille Godard, the mayor of Bordeaux. He, in turn, gifted the estate to the city of Bordeaux on his own death in 1882. However, only 20 years later the city decided that it was not appropriate for it to own and manage a Margaux classed growth and, in 1902, the management of the estate was passed to the Bordeaux négociants Schroder and Schÿler. In 1907 the city sold Kirwan to another négociant, Guestier who, in turn, sold it to Schroder and Schÿler outright in 1926. They continue to own it today.

The property featured prominently in the debate on the influence of Robert Parker on the style of Bordeaux in the early 2000s. It was, perhaps most notably, singled out by non-other than Michael Broadbent, the then head of Christie’s wine department, in the 2004 film Mondovino as the supreme example of the triumph of ‘the Parker-Rolland style’ as he put it.

Since then – and due in no small part to the reputational damage of this – Kirwan has seen a dramatic change, with Michel Rolland replaced as wine consultant in 2005, first by his protégé Athanase Fakorellis and then, marking rather more clearly the intended change in direction, by Eric Boissenot.

More significant still, however, was the arrival of Philippe Delfaut, the former director of Palmer, in 2007. He refocussed the grand vin on the best parcels from the gravel-rich plateau and launched a detailed project to map the diversity of the soil types of the vineyard.

The precious information gathered led to immediate changes in the vinification process and would ultimately inform the redesign and refurbishment, in 2014, of the entire wine-making facility. Today, it comprises 37 gravity-filled tulip-shaped concrete vats of 40-50 hectolitres, which allows for a parcel-by-parcel vinification which gives it much more precision than was possible in the old facility. 2015 is the first vintage to benefit fully from these changes and the transformation is immediately evident in the wine itself. From this moment onwards Kirwan reverts to being one of the most classical of Margaux classed growths.

An element of that is, of course, the terroir itself. This is classic Terrace 4 Margaux gravel. Or, to be more precise, it is from these parcels that the grand vin is now exclusively sourced. But it has an unusually high proportion of clay within it. That is Kirwan’s singularity and it helps explain the wine’s notable success in vintages that are hot and dry – like 2003, the 2018-2019-2020 trilogy and 2022. Arguably, above all in the context of the appellation, it is a terroir that supports climate change better than most.

Château Kirwan profile

• appellation:    Margaux
• classification: Third growth
• commune:       Cantenac
• vineyard size: 37 hectares
• terroir type:    Deep Pyrenean gravel on the Cantenac plateau, with an unusually high proportion of clay
• vineyard planting: 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot and 1% Carménère
• vinification:     Gravity-filled tanks, simultaneous alcoholic and malolactic fermentation.
  • • • Use of the R’pulse system to allow gentle extraction
• aging:                Typically for 18-21 months in French oak barrels, one third new oak each year
• average production:  160,000 bottles per year
• second wine:   Les Charmes de Kirwan (since 1993)
• consultant oenologist: Eric Boissenot

Tasting Notes

At a recent visit to the Château I tasted through all of the vintages already in bottle that were made in the new wine-making facility with Philippe Delfaut.

Kirwan 2015 (Margaux; 50% Cabernet Sauvignon; 35% Merlot; 10% Cabernet Franc; 5% Petit Verdot; 13.5% alcohol). Gracious. Open. Expressive. Richly aromatic with quite lifted red berry fruits and a little touch of garrigue herb. Dried floral elements too – crushed rose petals and patchouli. Quite sunny and nicely expressive of the vintage. Plump and ample on the attack but focussed with grip from the tannins drawing this back to the spine. There’s a pleasing sapidity that counteracts the summer heat of the vintage. 93.

Kirwan 2016 (Margaux; 55% Cabernet Sauvignon; 33% Merlot; 7% Cabernet Franc; 5% Petit Verdot; 13.5% alcohol). Quite different. A little more closed and cooler in personality. The floral elements are fresher and this is altogether darker hued – more peony and lilac than rose petals. The herbal element is more fresh too – with wild thyme and oregano prominent. There’s a little more cedar too. Soft and voluptuous tannins, super-svelte, with a menthol note seeming to radiate from the depths of the wine’s spherical core. Sapid and juicy. I find this gracious, refined and very Margellais. 94.

Kirwan 2017 (Margaux; 40% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Merlot; 20% Cabernet Franc; 10% Petit Verdot; 13.5% alcohol). Fresh, bright but a little etiolated in comparison with the 2015 and 2016. The comparative lack of density is already evident aromatically. Cedar and a little graphite, bright fresh spring blooms and an assortment of quite crunchy berry fruits. Quite a narrow frame giving this more impact on the attack than you expect from the aromatics. The fruit is held tight to the spine, the tannins not as fine-grained as the 2016. I find this more saline in its minerality too. Nicely sustained on the finish which, though never dry, is chewy and crumbly. Ready and for drinking relatively soon. 91.

Kirwan 2018 (Margaux; 43% Cabernet Sauvignon; 29% Merlot; 15% Cabernet Franc; 13% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 25 hl/ha; 14.5% alcohol). Rich and full and spicier than the vintages either side. This has some of the ‘solaire’ notes of the 2015, which it resembles most. But it’s spicier and more concentrated too. Sweet fruited with plenty of crushed red berries – wild strawberry and raspberries freshly plucked from their husks. Mocha, walnut shell, maybe a hint of pot pourri but I find this less floral than the preceding vintages. Creamily textured and quite ample on the attack, with considerable mid-palate density but, crucially, ripples of freshness in the mid-palate and a gracious dynamism – this is very limpid. One notices just a little the comparatively elevated alcohol on the finish but that actually gives this a lift that accentuates the pleasing sense of freshness. I like this a lot. A fine expression of the vintage and better than I would have imagined. 94.

Kirwan 2019 (Margaux; 59% Cabernet Sauvignon; 28% Merlot; 6% Cabernet Franc; 6% Petit Verdot; 1% Carménère; a final yield of 50 hl/ha; pH 3.55; 13.5% alcohol). Fresh and lifted, but quite solaire in personality. Distinctly sweet in its fruit profile as I noticed when last I tasted it. There’s a salinity and a ferrous character to the minerality that I find in the 2017 too, but this is altogether richer, fuller and more plump, plush and lithe, above all in the mid-palate – quite viscous and bloody in fact. There’s great density and a sense of compactness, but with the lovely crystalline luminous quality of the 2016 – but here with even greater definition. The most ample of these wines, pushing the cheeks but within the parameters set by the beady polished tannins. Quite floral in its way – with rose petals intermingling with the berry fruits. This exudes harmony and balance. Very attractive and perhaps the pick of the tasting thus far. So fresh and Margellais on the finish with those floral and cedar elements both very much at play. 95.

Kirwan 2020 (Margaux; 50% Cabernet Sauvignon; 28% Merlot; 14% Cabernet Franc; 7% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 33 hl/ha; pH 3.64; 14% alcohol). Aromatically explosive yet somehow restrained and hyper-elegant at the same time. The epitome of Margaux with lots of florality – a veritable bunch of fresh blooms. At first, lilac, maybe a little rose and also peony. Then violets, wisteria and touch of lavender – with hints of hazelnut shell and, with a little air, cedar and graphite. Dark berry fruits, that hint of mocha too, rich dark chocolate and fresh herbal notes all beautifully intermingling, nothing dominating or taking the spotlight. Candlewax. Incense. Wondrously soft and caressing, cool and mentholated in the density of the mid-palate, beautifully crystalline and limpid (even more so than the 2019). It has greater density too making this plunge-pool cool at the core. The wine of the flight. 96.

Kirwan 2021 (Margaux; 73% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13% Merlot; 8% Cabernet Franc; 6% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 33 hl/ha; pH 3.63; 13% alcohol). Rather more introvert than the 2018, 2019 and 2020 trilogy. Fine. Dark fruited as ever, in a very Kirwan style, but a little closed at first – though it slowly unfolds aromatically and everything is in balance. Indeed, it’s the sense of harmony that I really like here. Intense and very pure and crystalline, above all in the context of the vintage. Nice terroir notes. Peppery, leafy, and fresh, with a very croquant, al dente fruit just on the right side of ripeness. Sandalwood, a little graphite. Excellent for the vintage. Laser-sharp in its precision and with the now signature clarity of the mid-palate of the new Kirwan. A classy bottle in the context of the vintage. 93.

Kirwan 2022 (Margaux; 55% Cabernet Sauvignon; 32% Merlot; 7% Cabernet Franc; 6% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 27 hl/ha; pH 3.55; IPT of 77; 14% alcohol). There’s a gentle sweetness to the aromatics here – almost a subtle hint of floral honey. A little more closed and restrained than I found it en primeur at least aromatically and more difficult to pick blind now than before. But there are signature violets and the cedar is beautifully interwoven with the plump, fresh, cool and crunchy cherry and dark briary fruit. There’s a delicate sous bois note too. In the mouth this is plunge-pool cool, almost glacial – an effect that comes from the silky softness of the tannins; but it’s also deep, dark and intense, perhaps the most concentrated and dense of the entire flight and that means that this needs time. That said, it’s already gracious, crystalline and fabulously sapid as the waves of juicy freshness roll in and crash on the shore to form the finish. Lovely. Very Margellais; very Kirwan. I love the gracious sense of focussed intensity on the finish. 95.

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