Château Calon Ségur, 3ème Cru Classé, St Estèphe, 2023
As with Capbern, this is another Cabernet Sauvignon dominated blend (72%), with the balance shared between 15% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. Calon Segur is a hot property at the moment with a string of successes under the direction of Vincent Millet. Initial aromas of loamy earth, cool, dark berries, bramble fruit and stones lift from the glass. The palate is a clear continuation with lots of earthy mulberry, gravelly cassis and graphite - there's plenty of persistence here. It feels like the team has favoured a firm extraction giving this real depth and colour. We expect this to round out during élevage and rank amongst the top performing wines in the northern Medoc.
critic reviews
A total joy, just love the salt scrape and pumice stone, graphite, crushed rocks, liquorice, squid ink, cigar box, cassis, so good. Poise, finesse, drive and forward motion. Precise and confident texture to this wine, has higher levels of both Cabernets in 2023 than in 2022, having reached exceptional maturity, and it delivers the heart and spirit of old school Calon, coupled with violet aromatics and sculpted tannic confidence. The blend for this was built on Cabernet, and you can feel it. 100% new oak, director Vincent Millet.
The 2023 Calon Ségur, aged entirely in new oak, is quintessential Saint-Estèphe on the nose, with blackberry and wild hedgerow scents, slate and graphite, paradoxically standoffish but luring you in. Impressive delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned tannins. Quite linear in style, a little more peppery than I recollect from barrel, it has an insistent grip and admirable sustain on the aftertaste. Very fine.
A blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2023 Calon Segur has a deep garnet-purple color. After a swirl or two, notes of fresh blackcurrants, juicy blackberries, and redcurrant jelly leap from the glass, followed by hints of rose oil, cumin seed, and mint tea. The medium to full-bodied palate is bursting with bold red and black fruit flavors, supported by fine-grained tannins, finishing long and spicy. Nicely done!
The 2023 Calon-Segur is another en primeur success for this resurgent Saint-Estephe third growth. Wafting from the glass with aromas of cassis, pencil shavings, wild berries and plums, it's medium to full-bodied, cool and layered, with a deep and integrated core, terrific concentration, lively acids and refined structuring tannins, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. It's a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot that checks in at 14% alcohol.