Rauzan Ségla 2017

Tasted blind. Deep ruby colour. Fleshy red fruits after some coaxing – it is tightly wound at this stage. The palate reveals greater potential but focuses on brighter, red fruit for now. There is a creaminess to the texture despite the firm, fine tannins. This is a tight knot which is hard to read at this stage but the depth and length of finish suggest good potential.
Drink 2026 – 2036

There’s a very balanced feel to this wine with ripe blueberries and red plums, as well as dried flowers. The palate has a supple, smooth build of rich, blueberry and cassis flavor and a long, fine-tannin finish. A blend of 62% cabernet sauvignon, 36% merlot and 2% petit verdot. Drink or hold.

The 2017 Rauzan-Segla has a medium to deep garnet-purple color. It needs a lot of coaxing to reveal notes of crushed red and black currants, black raspberries, and fragrant soil, plus hints of candied violets and cumin seed. The elegant, medium-bodied palate has a great intensity of red berry and savory layers, framed by firm, grainy tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long.

A little less concentrated than the vintages on either side, with sculpted black fruits and floral character, red pepper spice, black truffles, grilled damson and smoked earth. Enjoyable, well balanced. Plenty of estate signature, but no need to wait as long as the more exuberant years. 40hl/h yield, 60% new oak, harvest September 12 to October 2. Nicolas Audbert director, Eric Boissenot consultant.

At this stage more intense crimson than the 2016! Smells of macerated raisins. I wonder how they made this? A bit sweet-and-sour. Less beautifully integrated than other recent vintages here – I even got a flash of the taste of English mustard! Not forced – quite nicely rounded tannins – but very non classical. Sort of very obviously assembled rather than organically grown. Slightly awkward scrawniness on the end.
Drink 2023-2032

Inky core and purple rim. Not much on the nose, a touch of black olive as well as black fruit and a woody oak note. Relatively subdued on the palate but juicy and with more energy than some. Juicy fruit right through to the sustained finish.
Drink 2023-2037

The black fruits on the nose are ripe depth of flavour the palate has sweet fruit mid suppleness a fleshy mix of damson and black cherry. There is balance underling bilberry but it is the sweet fruit that comes through and gives richness and depth on the finish. Drink 2024-2038.

This is another success for Rauzan-Ségla with rich, chocolatey fruit and some good power behind the oak. Always fairly demonstrative, this is a hedonistic wine in a vintage which rarely uses this descriptor, so there is a kind of anomaly here and it will not quite work itself to a conclusion so there will inevitably be a few flaws in its finished article, but regardless of this it is a success.