Château Calon Ségur 2000

You can still pick up a slight ageing note, with a creamy, subtly candied and vanilla touch on the palate, but the wine has plenty of depth and breadth, with great aromatic potential in reserve.

This shows a noticeable leafy edge, with tobacco, light cedar, bay and worn leather notes holding sway over a core of lightly mulled red currant and plum fruit flavors. Not as dense as the top examples, but everything pulls together nicely through the fine-grained finish. -- Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2020.

Deep, lively crimson with a narrow, clear rim. Big, ripe, and even a hint of coarseness on the nose. Certainly very ripe. Big, rambunctious, almost New World ripeness. I'd mistake the nose for Napa, but there is lots of acidity and chew on the finish. Lead pencils. Very slightly short. Certainly not big in weight. Finishes a little short. (JR)

Firm, bright, crisp, and a bit tart, offering earthy red currant, cranberry, and strawberry, with plenty of tobacco, cedar, peppery herbs, and spice. Years of cellaring have added a lot to this wine, but it sits on the stern, old-school, crunchy, classic side of the style range, which some will love and others will not. Another 5 years of age could help soften the wine.

04: Unfortunately, Madame Casqueton had no time for two weeks to give me an appointment for the barrel tasting in spring 2001. When I then tasted the 2001 a year later and very humbly asked whether I might, possibly — only if it didn’t bother her — be allowed to taste the 2000, she rebuffed me with military brusqueness: <div style="font-style:italic;color:#990033">I should have come last year to taste it.</div> I wanted to — but couldn’t for the reason mentioned above. So the first contact only happened on this January evening. Urs Stephan Alder brought this wine to the newly opened Caveau-Restaurant in Zurich because he knew I still had a tasting gap to fill here. Is this the first Calon-Ségur with the slightly modified label? I hadn’t noticed that on the ’99. The heart that the former owner Monsieur Ségur lost to Calon many years ago is now clearly visible on the upper part of the label. Bright ruby-garnet, a slight purple shimmer, but actually not particularly deep for a 2000. When poured, the wine smelled wonderfully of super-fruity Beaujolais with lilac notes and perfumed fruit blossoms, cassis, but also dramatically a lot of sweetness from a dominant barrique that makes the nose buttery and lends an overflowing, light caramel note. On the palate, superbly balanced, creamy with round, already fully integrated tannins; it currently comes across a bit superficial and light, and again the sweet tones from the barrel aging dominate the mouth aromatics. Thus, two questions remain. Was too much wood used? Or did this Calon turn out a bit too thin for such extensive barrel aging? Beauty and grace are already there in this wine; it still has to earn its greatness with further bottle age. The first drinking window isn’t even that far off. But it must first prove this to be able to gain points. It is said, however, to be a shape-shifting chameleon and has already shown itself significantly deeper. 04: Since the bombastic Grand-Puy-Lacoste stood right next to it, it was clear that this Calon-Ségur might indeed be a bit too delicate, or at least lacking punch. So, something for lovers of finesse. For the price, though, I would prefer other wines from this estate. (17/20). 15: There’s already an artisanal sheen shimmering through. It didn’t stand a chance against Gruaud 2000!

Deep, dense, dark, mineral bouquet: black berries, plums, coal, smoke, currants, licorice. Dense, powerful, aromatic palate with a classic structure, fine fruit, dark aromatics, long, compact finish. 18/20 drink - 2032

Dark, intense, and evolved color. Nose slightly discreet but fruity. Tender, fruity palate with a slender body that lacks mid-palate. Finish a touch lively. Medium length.

This is a solid, huge wine, with rich but very dry tannins. With its dense, almost black color, and its sense of brooding power, it promises long aging. It will never be in the opulent Bordeaux camp, despite its prominent new wood flavors, but will probably outlive all but a handful top wines.