Château Rauzan-Ségla 2016

Very restrained yet promising aromatics, floral and fruity; particularly dense, mineral style, class tannins, great length; superb, stylish, needs to age.

This has a lovely core of creamy anise-infused plum, blackberry and boysenberry flavors that showcase themselves a bit more vividly than many Margaux peers in this vintage do, with substantial but velvety grip and lots of extra violet, graphite and black tea notes adding to the long flow of a finish. Really beautiful feel. Best from 2023 through 2038. 10,000 cases made.

The reputation of Rauzan-Ségla is well earned here in a wine of supreme elegance, with pristine and vivid red and black fruit and cigar box aromatics. Its Cabernet-driven nature reflects purity and focus that leaves you with the impression of silky elegance, freshness and density. Very long finish. Give it a few more years for more complexity. A grand vin de Margaux!

The aromas of blackcurrants, sweet tobacco and sandalwood are tantalizing. Then it turns to subtle dried fruit. Full-bodied with dense, powerful tannins, yet finishing with finesse and a vertical character. Very deep. Power with finesse. Try after 2025.

Much more fragrant than the Ch Prieuré-Lichine just tasted. Cassis fruit and leaves and pencil shavings. Fresh, lively and in perfect harmony. Juicy, balanced if not dazzling. (JH)

Still young, but you can find hints of tobacco leaf, truffle, herbs and flowers poking through the ripe red and dark red fruits. The wine is concentrated, silky, uplifting and generous, as well as long, fresh and pure. This wine will need 12–15 years before it really starts opening and showing its true essence.

Deep dark ruby with an opaque core, brightening at the rim. Attractive scents of fully ripe cherries, a hint of cassis, and floral nuances. Juicy and elegant, with fine fruit expression, and perfectly ripe tannins. It is persistent, without rough edges, a velvety Margaux style. Full of finesse and equipped with good ageing potential.

Very perfumed nose with floral notes, rose petal and violet with raspberry, red currant, gravely and tobacco notes. The palate is dense and rounded with finely tuned tannin, a fresh acidity with seductive red fruit and a long smooth finish. Elegant and well-assembled.

I continue to love the 2016 Rauzan-Ségla, a thrillingly complete, flawlessly balanced, and borderline perfect Margaux that readers should snap up. Notes of cassis, graphite, tobacco leaf, and earth all give way to a full-bodied effort with building tannins, no hard edges, and a level of purity and elegance that’s nearly off the charts. Given its purity and balance, it’s accessible today, but it will be best with 4–5 years of bottle age and will keep for 3–4 decades.

Deep purple with violet rim. Dense, multi-layered bouquet with blueberry fruit and many floral nuances. On the palate, silky and elegant, with well-supported tannins. It impresses with clarity and finesse. Long finish with cassis and blackberry blossoms.

Kunz barrel sample 17: Mineral, dense, fresh bouquet, red and blue berries, cassis, flint, tobacco, red currant. Balanced, tightly woven, classic, elegant palate with dense, fine fruit, plenty of fine tannins, varied, sweet aromatics, dense structure, long, fresh finish. 21: René Gabriel: Deep purple, dense at the center, violet rim. Currently quite restrained and shows great depth. The fruit is very dark-berried, in the black-berry spectrum, bacony, smoky, and black pepper. On the palate, firm and gripping, showing a demanding astringency. For once, a rather masculine wine with plenty of power. For now it is not very accessible, so its drinking maturity is difficult to gauge. I think it will only really start from 2031. The question is whether it will further refine or always carry a certain arrogance. If it delivers on its promises, it could gain another point. (18/20).

Closed, dense, velvety, fruity bouquet with blue and black berries, fine woods, subtle tobacco, nougat. Densely woven, elegant, balanced and powerful palate with creamy fruit, a delicately muscular structure, varied sweet aromatics, fine tannins, and a very long, fresh finish. Still has room to improve. 18/20 2025 - 2050

Structured and elegant, this starts slowly and is clearly still young at this point, with firm tannins giving a slow release to the blackberry and cassis fruits, laced with mint, black tea, cumin and liquorice. Set to get even better as it ages, this has decades ahead of it. This First Wine comes almost entirely from plots on Terrace 4, a wide, clay-rich strip of gravel. 3/6 ph, 45 hl/ha yield, 60% new oak, harvest from September 20 to October 15. Nicolas Audbert, director.

Supple, easy, pleasantly vanilla, it aims for consensus rather than strong character.

Of ultimate refinement, the 2016 shines with the class of its palate, the finesse of its tannins, and the persistence of its finish in a fresh register. It stands at the top of the appellation.

Fresh red fruits, brambles. Generous, gourmand palate, fresh, moderately intense, with fine, silky tannins and a very long finish. A great success.

Garnet red with violet highlights. The bouquet of Rauzan-Ségla is surprising! It first reveals notes of chestnut and marrons glacés. Then fruity and floral aromas take the lead. I detect a touch of licorice wood, blackberry and blackcurrant. On the palate, the wine is elegant, slightly creamy and perfectly balanced. It has fine-grained tannins that give it power, while the structure brings a juicy touch and ideally supports the aromatic character. A convincing, silky and seductive wine that deserves a little cellaring, though it will be hard to resist.

Dark, intense, and beautiful color. Very aromatic nose, delicate, fruity, and subtle. A soft, melting attack that gains more and more breadth as it unfolds, finishing long, flavorful, full, with fine-grained texture. Superb wine.