| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Estèphe |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
The vines of this 70 hectare St Estèphe property are situated between Montrose and Calon Ségur. The vineyard is planted with 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 1.5% Cabernet Franc and 1.5 % Petit Verdot.
The 2020 Phélan Ségur has a very well-defined and seductive bouquet. There's real complexity here, with ebullient red fruit, crushed stone and dried rose petal scents, revealing more graphite aromas with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied, harmonious and poised, with very fine tannins, a keen line of acidity and a very svelte and persistent finish. This is a wine that seems unaware of just how good it is. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. 2029 - 2060
Gorgeous perfumes of plums, berries, light chocolate and walnut follow through to a medium body, fine tannins and crunchy finish. Bright and fresh. Precise tannins. Drinkable but better after 2027.
The 2020 Phélan Ségur is rich and generous, unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet berries, cherries and plums mingled with hints of violets and spices and framed by creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, it's a concentrated, structured wine underpinned by a chassis of generously extracted tannin that lends it a somewhat youthfully chunky profile.
Displaying a medium to deep purple-black color, the 2020 Phélan Ségur offers up intense notions of crushed red and black currants, black raspberries and fresh mulberries, plus suggestions of charcuterie, pencil shavings and cinnamon toast. The medium-bodied palate is elegantly styled and refreshing, delivering a firm, grainy texture to support the crunchy red and black fruits, finishing with a peppery kick. 2024 - 2039
Delivering, as it so often does, richly textured, concentrated and powerful black fruits, a sterling example of the 2020 vintage in St Estèphe, turmeric, crayon and smoked earth notes, lime blossom and pomegranate adding texture and complexity, great stuff. Yields 40hl/ha, harvest September 16 through to October 1, finishing around 10 days earlier than the past two years. Consultants Michel Rolland and Julien Viaud. First vintage with Petit Verdot included in the main wine, from vines planted in 2013.
Full bottle 1,350 g. Cask sample taken 6 April. 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. A St-Estèphe property with a relatively low proportion of Cabernet.
Rather astringent at this point. I have been a fan of this property and the clays of this commune should have produced something quite special but I'm not convinced by this particular vintage. Stringy finish. No fun at all at this point! 13.7%
Drink 2028 – 2040
The 2020 is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon and 42% Merlot, with equal parts Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot to make up the blend.
(54% CS, 42% M, 2% CF, 2% PV; 60% harvest; 13.5% ABV; 55% new)
Deep purple; fresh, mineral nose; full and crisp, a particularly vital impression; long and refined, and elegant to taste, with slightly dry wood tannins for the moment, but with the year’s classical proportions and finesse, and with very nice aromatic length. A most attractive freshness alongside the ripe red fruit character. 2026–36+.
The 2020 Phélan Ségur, which was picked 16 September to 1 October, and is the first vintage with four varieties in the blend i.e. Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot as well as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It fulfils the promise that it showed from barrel. Not quite as intense on the nose, yet it has retained that Pauillac-inspired allure thanks to those subtle pencil box and cedar scents infusing the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a cohesive, well-knit entry. Lovely texture, very pure, this is one of the most seductive Phélan that I can recall at this stage and I adored the classicism and graphite note that lingers on the aftertaste. Superb.
The 2020 Phélan Ségur has a very intense and almost Pauillac-like nose of blackberry, pencil box and cedar aromas, complex and mineral-driven. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins and plenty of black fruit laced with cedar and tobacco, quite sturdy and conveying more substance than recent vintages. This impressive Saint-Estèphe has great potential and might well represent the appellation's best value for money. Drink: 2025 - 2045
Bright and perfumed with some chocolate, berry, sandalwood and cedar. Very elegant and fine, medium to full-bodied palate with very integrated tannins and refined, polished texture. The tannins melt into the wine. Long finish with serious structure. Vivid and refined. Class here. Very Bordeaux. 54% cabernet sauvignon, 42% merlot, 2% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot.
The austerity to the tannins works in this wine's favour giving a juicy grip to the concentrated blackcurrant and bilberry fruits without strangling them. Excellent stuff, finishing up with liquorice and smoked coffee bean. This is an estate that has just powered to better and better wines over the past few years. Yields were 10% below the average of the past five years but still at 40hl/ha. Harvest September 16 through to October 1, finishing around 10 days earlier than the past two years. Consultants Michel Rolland and Julien Viaud. First vintage with Petit Verdot included in the main wine (2%), from vines planted in 2013. Tasted twice.
Drinking Window 2026 - 2042
