Château Rauzan-Ségla 2000

While the bottled 2000 still shows a certain sternness along with firm tannins, it is sweeter, more expansive, and more flavorful. The dark ruby/purple color is saturated and impressive. With coaxing, notes of pencil shavings, black currants, earth, cedar, and spice box emerge from a relatively closed, firm, medium- to full-bodied wine—or, as the French would say, a classic vin de garde (for long-term cellaring). Although austere, it is a classic, authoritatively flavored effort that requires patience. I would like to see sweeter tannins and more flesh built into the mid-palate, but there is no denying the classicism and purity of this 2000. Anticipated maturity: 2010–2025.

This is a bit grainy in feel, with ample cedar- and juniper-lined tannins carrying a mix of red and black currant, bay leaf and black tea flavors along before a tangy sanguine note captures the finish. Has character and charm, if a bit outpaced by the pack in general. -- Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2018. 8,330 cases made.

This was a warmer vintage than 2001, with more tannins and alcohol present. It's a little foursquare at first and still a little less seductive than 2001, but it will go the distance for sure. Notes of woodsmoke, cigar box, leather, hickory and exotic spices appear on the palate, with real width, depth and density throughout. A very good wine. Harvest ran from 22 September to 6 October, giving a 37hl/ha yield.

This is just starting to open up on the nose with tobacco, plums and currants throughout. Full-bodied, with lots of tobacco and chocolate that turns to notes of coffee and fruit on the finish. The palate is just starting to come around. Why should you wait on this? The winemaker says that it will be better after 2012. Rich and slightly austere still at the finish.

The 2000 Rauzan-Ségla is deep in color. The bouquet is similar to the bottle poured a couple of years ago, featuring blueberry and Provençal herbs, the secondary and primary scents commingling to wonderful effect. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and tarry black fruit, and quite structured and fresh, leading to a grippy, saline finish. A redoubtable, almost swarthy Margaux that should drink well for another 20 years or more. Superb.

Young, tight and tannic, this requires another 5–10 years to add more complexity to its nose of tobacco, earth, spice, cassis, floral notes, stone and freshly cut herbs. Masculine in style, the wine finishes with a burst of fresh fruit, berries, cassis and cranberry. This wine is more about potential than pleasure today. Give it time.

I loved the 2000 Rauzan-Ségla, another mature yet balanced wine that shows the hallmark complexity and elegance of the estate. Beautiful currants, strawberries, lead pencil, and spice notes give way to a medium- to full-bodied wine with layered texture, resolved tannins, and good mid-palate depth. I love its complexity, its seamless texture, and its great finish. This is a beautiful 2000 that’s drinking at peak today yet will easily keep for another two decades.

Dark purple with violet highlights. Noble, expansive mulberry bouquet, gorgeous plum note, tar, rosewood, and dark chocolate. On the palate, plenty of substance, blackberries, concentrated, a gently roughening extract, balanced, intense astringency. A massive Rauzan-Ségla that could show slightly more refined tannins, which should settle with barrel ageing.

01: Dark purple with violet highlights. Noble, expansive mulberry bouquet, lovely plum note, tar, rosewood, and dark chocolate. On the palate, lots of substance, blackberries; the concentration makes the extract gently roughened, balanced, intense astringency; a massive Rauzan-Ségla that could, however, show slightly nobler tannins, which can surely be balanced out by barrel aging. (18/20). 12: As a 2000, actually not quite enough drive – but as a Rauzan-Ségla, sufficient finesse. It is a true pleasure to drink this wine already. (18/20). 20: Deep wine-red with a purple sheen. The nose shows many dark fruits—blackcurrant, blackberries, and mulberries—interlaced with precise floral Cabernet-Sauvignon notes. Very multi-layered and steadily gaining with air. On the palate it seems to travel with a bit less push than on the nose. The tannins are silky, the balanced astringency is regal. The finish is elegant and highly aromatic. A truly great Margaux that also suits impatient wine lovers, as it is currently in a tremendous drinking phase. Although there’s easily another twenty years of life in it. This bottle: 19/20. So it’s trending upward. 21: Brightening, gently matured wine-red with a minimal brick-toned rim. The fruit seems to have subsided, giving way to a very appealing terroir shimmer smelling of light leather, herbal notes, goji berries; complex and truly redolent of Margaux, albeit tending slightly lactic. On the palate the acidity dominates at first and needs some time to integrate reasonably into the extract. A grippy wine with power. If you slurp it, you can coax a wonderful perfume from it. It appears more mature on the nose than on the palate. Two hours of decanting will do it good. Loving it! (18/20).

Spicy, subtly green, mineral bouquet, blackberries, cherries, iodine, flint. A firm, aromatic, austere palate with fine, sandy tannins, a slightly angular structure, medium aromatics, pronounced minerality, and a dry finish. Can still improve. 17/20 to drink

Tawny-rose in colour, with dried roses, mushroom and soy on the nose. This is clearly open and moving fully into tertiary development, focusing squarely on charcoal, spice and undergrowth rather than plump fruit at this stage, with a touch of earthy brett. You can find more muscular 2000s, but this is succulent, welcoming and very much ready to drink, with layers of smoky oak. 60% new oak barrels, 37 hl/ha yield. Harvest from September 25 to October 6. John Kolasa, director.

A blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2000 Rauzan-Segla is medium to deep garnet-brick in color. It erupts with powerful, mature scents of preserved plums, cigar box, cumin, leather, and fertile loam, giving way to a fragrant undercurrent of anise and dried flowers. The medium-bodied palate is packed with evolved, tertiary flavors, supported by lightly chewy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and minerally. Classic, great, mature claret.

The oak remains present on the first nose, with notes of toast. It then grows more complex, allowing the fruit to come through. The palate is warm, very rich and ripe. A seductive wine with impressive volume that still needs time.

Logo on the cork: FS Dark color, medium intensity with some evolution. The nose shows a bouquet combining fruit, leather, and creamy notes. From start to finish on the palate, the wine glides and caresses, offering a slightly slender body, yet aromatic on the finish even though the oaky notes are still present.

At first taste, this wine seems more new world than Bordeaux. But then the subtle, perfumed aromas and structured fruit show through, along with the clean acidity and black tannic fruits. Give this wine at least 12 years before opening.