Second Wine, First-Class Margaux: Vivens 2015 Shows the Strength of the Vintage and the Brilliance of Durfort-Vivens
Original price was: £460.00.£249.00Current price is: £249.00.
Vivens 2015 is one of those wines that quietly proves why Margaux remains the most seductive of the Left Bank appellations, a second wine that behaves with the polish, perfume and finesse usually reserved for far costlier labels, and in the hands of Gonzague Lurton it becomes something altogether more intriguing: a biodynamic, Cabernet-led claret of real depth, purity and charm. From the exceptional 2015 vintage—warm, harmonious, perfectly balanced—it draws its sense of completeness, that effortless interplay of ripe fruit, supple tannins and lifted aromatics that critics hailed across the Médoc. Here, in Durfort-Vivens’ gravel-rich parcels, the blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot settles into a deep garnet robe, the nose rising with cassis, violet and cedar, while on the palate the wine glides forward in a silky, structured line, black fruit and graphite woven together with an understated authority that belies its “second wine” status.
Critics place it around 91 points, praising its poise, its classical Margaux fragrance, its clarity of fruit and its beautifully judged tannins; they call it refined, balanced, quietly confident—a wine that marries the generosity of the vintage with the precision of the estate. And there is the vintage itself: 2015 is now widely recognised as one of the Left Bank’s modern benchmarks, a year that delivered density without heaviness, freshness without austerity, charm without excess, producing wines with the structure to age yet the immediate allure to drink now. Vivens captures all of this in a single glass.
With drinking potential until 2035, and at a price that sits worlds below most wines offering this level of craftsmanship—RRP £460, CCUK £249 delivered for six bottles—Vivens 2015 stands as Left Bank luxury at a Right Bank price, a Margaux of real pedigree that overdelivers at every turn, proving once again that the second wines of great châteaux often offer the finest Bordeaux value of all.
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For more details, read on . . .
Château Durfort-Vivens: The Margaux Second Growth with a Second Wine Worthy of the First Team
Château Durfort-Vivens has always occupied a fascinating place in Margaux: a historic Second Growth from the 1855 Classification, blessed with some of the most gravel-rich terroir in the appellation, yet working quietly, almost introspectively, under the stewardship of Gonzague Lurton, who has transformed the estate into one of Bordeaux’s great biodynamic success stories. The château lies on a ridge of deep Günzian gravel—Margaux’s famous “jewellery box” soils—and it is this combination of lightness, finesse and precision that defines its wines. But where the estate becomes truly compelling is in the extraordinary quality of its second wine, Vivens, which has evolved far beyond the traditional idea of a “declassified” cuvée and now stands as one of the Left Bank’s greatest insider secrets.
Vivens draws from the same biodynamic vineyards as the Grand Vin, with the same meticulous sorting, gentle extraction and élevage; in warmer or more generous vintages, the blend benefits from fruit that could easily have gone into the First Wine at most other châteaux, yet here is redirected to keep Durfort-Vivens among the most elegant, refined Margaux in any cellar. The result is a second wine that feels anything but secondary: Cabernet Sauvignon for structure and graphite purity, Merlot for plushness and charm, all shaped in seasoned oak to preserve the château’s hallmark perfume and lift. Critics consistently praise the wine for its poise, classical Margaux fragrance, pure black fruit and silk-edged tannins—attributes far more often associated with classified growths than with their understudies.
What makes Vivens exceptional is its clarity of purpose: it offers everything that makes Durfort-Vivens so prized—freshness, finesse, aromatic lift, biodynamic precision—at a price that defies its pedigree. In vintages like 2015, where the combination of perfect ripeness and natural balance produced wines with both immediate charm and long ageing potential, Vivens becomes a masterclass in value, a wine that captures the essence of Margaux’s magic without ever feeling heavy, forced or over-styled. It is, quite simply, a Second Wine that drinks like a First, and for those who know the estate, one of Bordeaux’s most rewarding discoveries.
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