2011 Château Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux, Bordeaux

2011 Château Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux, Bordeaux

Product: 20111014600
Prices start from £87.00 per bottle (75cl). Buying options
2011 Château Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux, Bordeaux

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Description

This is almost as stylish as Coco Chanel herself. The ever-frank John Kolasa has really worked wonders this vintage, and it pushes Ch. Palmer and Ch. Margaux for top honours. Perfumed red currant fruit jumps straight out of the glass, with a darker, earthier forest fruit edge following on. A grainy, floral lift comes through and really adds to the aromatic pyrotechnics here! Full, fresh and rounded with the sweetness of fruit, you really feel the texture and fresh crunch in the mouth. This is considered and focused with great length. It is super impressive this year.

Berry Bros. & Rudd

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Critics reviews

Neal Martin, Vinous93/100

The 2011 Rauzan-Ségla has a ripe, flesh, red plum, hoisin and sandalwood-scented bouquet, quite showy and forward, willing to give sensory pleasure now, not tomorrow. The palate is beautifully balanced, fresh and saline with fine grain tannins. Linear, but there is tension here that is missing in some of the other 2011 Margaux wines. Persistent on the finish - this is excellent. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.

Drink 2022 - 2040

Neal Martin, Vinous.com (September 2021)

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Wine Advocate93/100
The grand vin, the 2011 Rauzan Segla, is a beauty. Aromas of spring flowers, graphite, creme de cassis and kirsch jump from the glass of this dense purple-colored 2011. Lots of nobility, complexity and richness characterize a wine that could be mistaken for a first-growth in 2011. This medium to full-bodied, concentrated, gorgeously pure, well-balanced beauty should be forgotten for 2-4 years and drunk over the following 15-20. Kudos to administrator John Kolasa and his team.
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 30/04/2014 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW17.5/20

Tasted blind. Deep crimson. Slightly one-dimensional nose. Solid, rather impenetrable. Chunky. Not that gracious. Just a bit monolithic. But lots of life there.

Drink 2023 - 2039

Jancis Robinson MW, Jancisrobinson.com (October 2021)

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Wine Spectator89-92/100
Modern style, with a good fleshy feel and a nice smoky edge to the currant, fig and melted licorice notes. Stays velvety through the finish, with the flavors melding nicely.
Wine Spectator's 2011 Top-Scoring Red Bordeaux
James Molesworth, Wine Spectator, April 10, 2012 Read more
Decanter18/20
Very good concentration of blackcurrant Cabernet fruit, lots of energy and vineyard length, a beautifully extracted wine with elegance and depth, classic Margaux. Read more

About this WINE

Chateau Rauzan-Segla

Chateau Rauzan-Segla

Château Rauzan-Ségla and Mouton Rothschild were considered the leading 2emé Cru Classé Bordeaux properties during the 19th century. However, while the fortunes of Mouton prospered in the 20th century, culminating in its elevation to 1er Cru status in 1973, Rauzan-Ségla`s reputation dwindled and a succession of disappointing wines were produced.

In the early 80s the Rauzan-Segla was sold and the renaissance began. The eminent Professor Peynaud was appointed as a consultant and the proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend was increased, as was the proportion of new oak used in the maturation process. In 1986, a brand-new cuverie was built.

A succession of eye-catching wines were produced at Rauzan-Ségla in the mid to late 80s and early 1990s. Rauzan-Segla was bought by Chanel in 1994.

There are now 45 hectares of vineyards at Rauzan-Ségla and the grapes (63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc) are fermented in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks. The wine is then matured in barriques (60% new) for 18 months.

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Margaux

Margaux

If Pauillac can be seen as the bastion of ‘traditional’ Red Bordeaux, then Margaux represents its other facet in producing wines that are among Bordeaux’s most sensual and alluring. It is the largest commune in the Médoc, encompassing the communes of Cantenac, Soussans, Arsac and Labaude, in addition to Margaux itself. Located in the centre of the Haut-Médoc, Margaux is the closest of the important communes to the city of Bordeaux.

The soils in Margaux are the lightest and most gravelly of the Médoc, with some also containing a high percentage of sand. Vineyards located in Cantenac and Margaux make up the core of the appelation with the best vineyard sites being located on well-drained slopes, whose lighter soils give Margaux its deft touch and silky perfumes. Further away from the water, there is a greater clay content and the wines are less dramatically perfumed.

Margaux is the most diffuse of all the Médoc appelations with a reputation for scaling the heights with irreproachable wines such as Ch. Margaux and Ch. Palmer, but also plumbing the depths, with too many other châteaux not fulfilling their potential. There has been an upward shift in recent years, but the appellation cannot yet boast the reliability of St Julien. However, the finest Margaux are exquisitely perfumed and models of refinement and subtlety which have few parallels in Bordeaux.

Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Margaux, Ch. Palmer, Ch. Brane-Cantenac, Ch. Rauzan-Ségla , Ch. Dufort-Vivens, Ch. Ferrière, Ch. du Tertre, Ch. Giscours, Ch. d'Angludet.

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Cabernet Sauvignon blend

Cabernet Sauvignon blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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When is a wine ready to drink?

We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.

Not ready

These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.

Ready - youthful

These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.

Ready - at best

These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.

Ready - mature

These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.