This is a classically wrought Margaux from 2ème Grand Cru Classé estate, Château Durfort Vivens. From the superb 2005 vintage, it is composed of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, aged in 45% new oak for 22 months.
Château Durfort-Vivens is a Bordeaux wine estate in the Margaux appellation. One of the grands crus classés (classified grands crus) of the Médoc, it was ranked as a second growth in the original 1855 Classification. The estate is overseen by Gonzague Lurton, who took over running the property in the early 1990s. It was one of the estates visited by future US president and known wine-lover, Thomas Jefferson, just before the French Revolution. Jefferson, who was then ambassador to France, produced his own ranking of the châteaux of the Médoc, rating Durfort-Vivens just under Lafite, Latour and Margaux.Like numerous holdings in the area, the estate in the post-revolutionary era of the 19th Century was marked by a succession of owners. This continued into the 20th Century before the château was bought by the Lurton family (who at that time also held a stake in Château Margaux, only a few hundred meters to the northeast) in 1937.