2009 Ch. Phélan Ségur, St. Estèphe

Black cherry liqueur chocolate aromas rise from the 2009 Ch. Phelan Segur. The fruit is certainly ripe but a fresh minerality provides good balance and stops the wine from feeling over-sweet. This is a rich, flamboyant, well-made wine.

Black red, big smoky, slightly gamey bacony nose, lots of lifted blackcurrant fruit, good supple, vigorous fruit and good length.
(Steven Spurrier - Decanter - Apr 2010)

Very dark. Sweet palate entry and very round. Maybe picked just a tad too late to be refreshing? Thick and sweet and full. But if you like this sort of New World style, you will enjoy this very much. Just a little bit of heat on the finish.
(Jancis Robinson MW, jancisrobinson.com - Apr 2010)

Like many of the top 2009s, Phelan-Segur is a huge, full-bodied effort with massive fruit as well as good freshness, precision, and elegance. This is all rather paradoxical given previous great vintages that either lean toward cooler vintage characteristics or hot ones. This 2009 possesses both styles. It exhibits lots of mulberry, boysenberry, and crushed, jammy black fruits, abundant tannin, medium to full body, an opulent mouthfeel, and enough structure to evolve for two decades or more. This is a sleeper of the vintage.
(Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - April 2010)

Deep aromas of crushed blackberries and fresh herbs. Full-bodied, with round and soft tannins and a polished texture on the finish. Rich and structured. Could be best ever from here.
(James Suckling - Wine Spectator - Apr 2010)