critic reviews
A blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, and 1% Cabernet Franc, the 2014 Rauzan-Segla has a deep garnet color. It springs from the glass with maturing tertiary notes of cigar box, new leather, and incense, giving way to a core of blackcurrant jelly, plum preserves, and crushed rocks. Medium-bodied, the palate is laden with dried black fruit and exotic spice layers, supported by invigorating tension and velvety tannins, finishing with a minty lift.
The 2014 Rauzan-Segla has a fragrant nose with red berry fruit, cedar, mint and a dab of dark chocolate. Fairly backward at first, it opens nicely in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins. It is a bit rustic in style, but there is satisfying depth and fruit concentration. Blackberry mixes with white pepper and bay leaf toward the finish. For the château in question, it comes across a bit assertive in style, but it pulls it off. It is not bad, though it's surpassed by almost every subsequent vintage. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.
High rose petal count on the aromatics of this Rauzan-Ségla, and it is just peering over into its ageing window, gathering up its generous raspberry and cassis fruits, with touches of creme caramel. Love the flexibilty of the tannins as they soften into their second decade, with delicious peony and volet character, excellent. 60% new oak, 37hl/h yield, harvest September 22 to October 16. Last year with John Kolasa as director.
The deep garnet colored 2014 Rauzan-Segla reveals an open-knit, expressive nose of potpourri, unsmoked cigars, spice box and red loam with a core of plum preserves, blackcurrant jelly and bay leaves plus a touch of garrigue. Medium to full-bodied with compelling earthy layers and a real savoriness in the mouth, it has firm, chunky tannins and bold freshness, finishing on a lingering mineral note. The blend this year is 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, harvested between September 22nd and October 16th, at an average yield of 37 hectoliters per hectare. It was aged for 18 months in French oak, 60% new. The alcohol is 13.5%, and the pH is 3.59.