Château Phélan Ségur 2023

Once again showing great elegance and remarkable depth; great complexity, pure fruit, floral notes, menthol, and citrus aromas; on the palate, incredibly crisp fruit, precise tannins, excellent balance, and great length. A Phélan Ségur full of finesse and tremendous energy, a true gem!

An excellent Phélan. Darkly fragrant, herbal and softly floral with blackcurrant, red cherry and coffee bean accents. Smooth and supple, gorgeous approachability in the juiciness and sense of life. So easy to enjoy this, cool and classic scents of blue fruits and crisp red fruit. Layered, clean and finessed. Svelte, not much muscle but there’s underlying power in the long finish with hints of mint. Extremely balanced and juicy, with a touch of sweetness and freshness and then the cleaning minerality comes through giving a powdery soft ending with elements of wet stone and graphite. Very St-Estephe and very successful. 52hl/ha yield. 60% grand vin, 40% second wine. Two thirds of the wine is vinified with indigenous yeasts to give more terroir identity. Longest harvest ever at the estate, beginning on September 18 until October 11. 1.5% Petit Verdot completes the blend.

The 2023 Phélan Ségur is quite backward on the nose at first, less forthcoming than some of its peers. It eventually opens with blackberry, violet and crushed strawberry, still just a little confit-like in character. The palate is medium-bodied, with firm tannins on the entry. Good body and weight, plenty of fruit concentration but tightly wound on the finish. Afford this four or five years in bottle and you will be rewarded.

Black cherries, chocolate, licorice and floral aromas with a touch of spices fill the nose. Medium-bodied, but with richness, freshness, balance, and complexity. The wine finishes red fruits, along with refreshing notes of spearmint on the back end. This should be quite nice shortly after release. Drink from 2027-2045.

Dark ruby, opaque core, purple reflections. Ripe cherries, plums, a light touch of blackberry confit, a hint of roasted aromas and fine oak. Taut, finely meshed, ripe cherries, vivid tannins, mineral, good persistence, will benefit from further ageing.

Has just the right amount of sappy austerity, and it's easy to have full confidence in how it will develop and age. Squid ink, cassis, blackberry, tobacco, cigar box, powerful, succulent, juicy, love this. An exciting estate right now, Philippe Van de Vyvere owner, Veronique Dausse director. One to look out for. Native yeasts for fermentation after an extensive programme of plot-by-plot isolation, under the direction of the team Luc Peyronnet and Stéphane Rougé. 55% new oak for ageing.

The oak makes its presence felt and asserts itself, yet it clearly isn’t the kind that tries to take over. Instead, it focuses on what it is there for: to support and enhance the wine’s aromatic profile. The bouquet offers notes of black berries, spices and eucalyptus before revealing subtle hints of graphite. On the palate, the wine favours an elegant texture and gradually building tannins. They unfold across the palate and finally assert themselves on the finish, lending structure and framing a purposeful austerity that highlights the aromatics and the lingering length of the finish. A subtle, deep, elegant Phélan Ségur, more detail-driven than ever. The outstanding commitment of the Phélan Ségur technical teams is paying off. Good job!

The nose is fruity, full of charm, and offers a textured, airy character with fresh, balanced density. It reveals notes of pulpy/juicy blackberry and violet, and more subtly fresh/bright bigarreau cherry, combined with touches of camphor, cardamom, and toasted nuances, as well as a fine, almost Mediterranean hint in the fruit and a subtle saline note. The palate is pleasantly fresh, fruity, and balanced, offering minerality, tension, precision, a crystalline edge, a lovely linear profile, beautiful freshness, and length carried by freshness. It shows notes of pulpy/juicy cherry, crushed blackberry, and, more subtly, pulpy/juicy purple plum, joined by touches of racy minerality, flowers, a hint of fresh blond tobacco, a subtle sappy note, and a discreet hint of star anise. The tannins are sapid and fresh. A discreet touch of pleasant bitterness on the finish.

A slightly more pliant version of the AOC, with a gentle coating of warm cocoa and singed cedar over a core of mulled black currant and black cherry fruit. Keeps a suave feel throughout, with flashes of violet, chestnut and warm earth underscoring a structured but fine-grained finish. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2027 through 2038.

This is a dense wine, powered with tannins that are balanced by black currant fruits and a generous texture. It is a fine wine in need of aging to reveal its best. Drink from 2028.

Deep, intense colour. The nose is moderately aromatic, with ripe fruit. Delicate on the attack and precise through the mid-palate, the wine develops into a pleasant, silky texture, with flavour and fine tannins. It’s good.