In gentle decline at age 100 but still showing considerable interest, the 1921 Chateau Margaux offers up complex aromas of sweet dried currant fruits, vanilla pod, cedar wood and subtle hints of furniture polish. On the palate, it's more vibrant, revealing plenty of depth and dimension, with a seamless core that's still framed by soft but noticeable tannin, concluding with a long, saline finish.

The 1921 Chateau Margaux revealed a light color with considerable rust and orange. Some melted road tar as well as maderized notes came out of this perfumed but dried out wine. Rather light-bodied (today's vintages are far more muscular and concentrated), this wine lacked balance, and was slightly disjointed and losing its fruit. Other than a handful of 1921s that ranged from several surprisingly strong examples of Montrose, to old, decrepit bottles of Cheval Blanc, this great vintage has largely escaped my palate. But to paraphrase the late A.J. Liebling, "if you can't afford them, then it's nice to know someone who can." 1921 was one of those extremely hot Bordeaux growing seasons (more recently 1947, 1949, 1959, 1982, 1989, and 1990 have enjoyed similar summers and harvests). Because of high alcohol, low acidity, and a certain fragility to the wines, the vintage has always been considered to be very great, but short-lived.. This flight represented an extraordinary, once in a lifetime opportunity to look at some of that vintage's greatest wines - all purchased from private cellars in Europe in pristine condition. Only the Gruaud Larose had been recorked.The notes for this wine are taken from the description of Series V - Flight B of the 1995 tasting conducted in Munich by Helga and Hardy Rodenstock. Many years after the tasting from which this note derives allegations were made concerning the authenticity of old and rare bottles of wine sold by Hardy Rodenstock to collectors around the world. The matter has been the subject of numerous articles, litigation and at least one book. Mr. Parker believes that the wines served to him at this tasting were authentic so this note and the others from that specific tasting continue to be posted on eRobertParker.com.