| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Margaux |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
Now comfortably established in the super-second league. Huge efforts have been made by owners Chanel to make great wine at Rauzan, with production of the first wine only around half of the total harvest. The rest is used for their excellent second wine - Ségla. The 70 hectare vineyard is planted with 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot with a touch of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Average vine age is 37 years. In our view this 2nd growth is consistently the top wine of the appellation after Palmer and Chateau Margaux itself - and it is frequently the winner of the Margaux appellation in our blind tastings. New winemaker Nicolas Audebert arrived following stints at Krug and making Cheval des Andes for LVMH in South America. He has certainly had a terrific start here with a quite outstanding 2015, as well as excellent 2016 and 2018 vintages.
The 2019 Rauzan-Ségla is a wine that I did not taste en primeur. Picked from September 12 to October 9 and matured in 60% new oak, it has a gorgeous, seductive bouquet of pure blackberry, bilberry, crushed iris petals and just a hint of licorice. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins and good cohesion and depth. The oak is seamlessly integrated on the finish, which lingers like a temptress. Two samples tasted, the second demonstrating a little more salinity on the aftertaste. This will be irresistible. 2027 - 2060
The 2019 Rauzan-Segla is deep garnet-purple in color. It gallops out with bold notes of warm cassis, stewed plums, and cedar chest, followed by touches of clove oil, violets, and cardamom. The medium to full-bodied palate has a firm backbone of grainy tannins and lively acidity supporting the dense, muscular fruit, finishing long and earthy. It needs time!
The 2019 Rauzan-Ségla has turned out brilliantly, unwinding in the glass with fragrant aromas of cassis, blackberries, violets, rose petals and sweet soil tones. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and concentrated, it's deep and layered, with beautifully refined tannins, lively acids and a long, perfumed finish. This is a sensual, elegant Rauzan-Ségla from Nicolas Audebert and his team. Drink Date 2029 - 2065
62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35.5% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 0.5% Cabernet Franc. Bright purple in colour, with a hyper fragrant nose of violets, cherry blossom and sweetly spiced plums. The palate is finely etched, with the same floral tones dominating the fruit core. This is a wine focused on elegance and vibrancy, lithe in structure with bright acidity and gentle, powderry tannins. There is a sense of weightless intensity that makes for a deceptively approachable style. Pure and long on the finish, this should have a long, open drinking window and appeal to those who want a wine led by harmony over power.
Subtle and complex aromas of sweet berries, rose stems and lavender with some sandalwood. Medium-to full-bodied with beautiful depth of fruit, creamy tannins and lots of chocolate and berry character. Yet, it’s tight at the end, showing beautiful depth and length. So structured. Try after 2027.
This is just the most delicious Rauzan Ségla, so much depth, carefully placed black cherry, damson and blueberry fruits, juicy even though still so young. A vintage that has plenty of tannic architecture, softened by cocoa bean, liqourice and rosebud, love it. 42hl/h yield, 60% new oak, 3.73ph. Harvest 12th September to October 9th. Nicolas Audbert director, Eric Boissenot consultant. An upscore since I last tasted this wine.
62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35.5% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 0.5% Cabernet Franc. Dark crimson. Much purpler than Rauzan-Gassies. Complex and round with many a layer and real drive. First-growth concentration and complexity. A real star. Brooding, in the most impressive way. Very long and exciting. 14.2% Drink 2028 – 2050
Nicolas Audebert described Rauzan Segla 2019 to us as being stylistically a mix of the 2015 and 2016 vintages. It is a bit less concentrated and powerful than the 2018, but that was an extreme vintage. It may have less concentration but not less density. 19 Rauzan is dense with great stuffing, it is extremely long and persistent. Less flashy than its predecessor, but so elegant and refined. Nicolas concluded by saying that it reminded him of the great 2010 and 1996 vintages here.
The 2019 is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35.5% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 0.5% Cabernet Franc. The abv is 14.2%, following a harvest from 12th September for the first Merlot to 9th october for the last Cabernet Sauvignon. The yield is 42hl/ha, and the wine will be aged in 60% new French oak for 18 months. Deep purple in colour with ripe cassis and black cherry layered by a hit of umami from truffle and cedar. The palate is floral and vibrant, dark but fresh blackcurrant intermingling with violets and graphite. The tannins are supple and ripe, adding to the sensation of weightless intensity. The fruit is powerful, glossy and ripe, but tamed by acidity. Indredibly pure, perfumed and mineral through to a long, cool and driven finish. Tasted in Bordeaux.
The Grand Vin 2019 Château Rauzan-Ségla is beautiful, and it seems this estate can do no wrong since 2015. A more elegant, ethereal, complex Margaux, it has a perfumed and complex style in its red, blue, and black fruits as well as notes of white flowers, chalky minerality, and exotic spices. Haute couture at its finest and seamless, medium to full-bodied, perfectly balanced, and just stunning any way you look at it, it already offers pleasure today yet will easily have 30 years of prime drinking.
62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35.5 % Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 0.5% Cabernet Franc. Barrel sample.
Margaux finesse at the top table. Poised and fragrant with vineyard-fresh dark fruit and cassis aromas. Exquisite palate, juicy but seamless, the fine tannins and perfectly pitched fruit in absolute harmony. Silky texture. Long, clean, digeste finish. (JL)
Drink 2027 – 2045
Composed of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35.5% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, and 0.5% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Rauzan-Segla is deep garnet-purple colored. It is a little closed and broody to begin, soon fanning out to offer up notes of kirsch, black cherry preserves, and warm cassis, plus touches of smoked meats, wild blueberries, violets, and cedar chest, along with a hint of charcoal. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is very tightly wound with loads of earthy accents among the densely laden fruit and fine-grained tannins, finishing long and savory.
Opens with a curl of gourmet smoked caramel, this is well made and well delivered, architectural, clear oak influence but not overly sweet. Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant fruits, with black cherry and cassis, and a fragrant iris flower finish. Harvest 12th September to October 9th. 42hl/ha yield, 60% new French oak.
The black fruits burrow downwards through the palate at first, keeping things pretty closed, everything holding its breath, before the fruit opens. There is the precision of Rauzan Ségla that is reminiscent of the 2016, less of the immediate voluptuous impact of 2018 but the density becomes extremely clear in the glass. A serious Rauzan, cassis and cedar, still with a rinse of iris flowers to give it the Margaux touch. 3.73pH. 50/50 1st and 2nd wine. A yield of 42l/ha. Drinking Window 2028 - 2044.
