2015 Château Phélan Ségur, St Estèphe, Bordeaux

2015 Château Phélan Ségur, St Estèphe, Bordeaux

Product: 20151014147
 
2015 Château Phélan Ségur, St Estèphe, Bordeaux

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Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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Description

Intense on the nose, sweet and toasty, it is brimming with impressive dark fruit. An earthy minerality, with sweet toasty notes combine to offer a generous and savoury mouthful. The fresh, cool palate is tremendously well concentrated and we love the purity of fruit. Lovely grippy tannins on the finish.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate91-93/100
The 2015 Phelan Segur, a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Merlot aged in 50% new oak, is certainly one of the better offerings from the Saint Estèphe appéllation. For sure, the bouquet is restrained, kept on a leash, but it trots along with crisp blackberry and raspberry fruit, interwoven with an attractive pencil lead note. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannin. It is structured and quite bold, considering the storm that swept across the appéllation during harvest, clearly a lot of sorting here that engenders a clean and pure wine with appreciable mineralité and tension on the foursquare finish. If released at a sensible price, then this would be a recommended Saint Estèphe to consumer over 10-12 years.
Neal Martin - erobertparker.com # 224 - April 2016 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW16.5+/20
Bright fruit and fine tight finish. Classic stuff though with an undertow of sweet oak. No one could object.
Drink 2025-2040
Jancis Robinson MW - jancisrobinson.com - Apr 2016 Read more
James Suckling93-94/100
A full-bodied red with very dense and chewy tannins. Very persistent and intense. Very fine textured. One of the best Phelans ever?
James Suckling - jamessuckling.com - Apr 2016
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Decanter
Has the smooth, slightly gamey fruit you’d expect from Phélan-Ségur. Very good vineyard expression and fine, elegant length.
Drink: 2020-2030
Steven Spurrier - decanter.com - April 2016
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About this WINE

Château Phélan Ségur

Château Phélan Ségur

Château Phélan-Ségur is a St Estèphe property that produces textbook meaty, solid and long-lived St Estèphe. Founded by Irishman Bernard O’Phelan, the estate was developed by his son, Frank, and renamed Phélan Ségur in the early 20th century. It was bought by Xavier Gardinier in 1985 and run by his sons, Thierry and Laurent until 2018, when Philippe Van de Vyvere bought the property.

Phélan-Ségur's 70 hectares of vineyards are well-sited near the Grionde estuary, lying on well-drained gravel soils, bordered by those of Château Montrose and Château Calon-Ségur.

The grand vin is normally a blend of at least 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot and a touch of Cabernet Franc and/or Petit Verdot. The grapes are fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats and the wine is then matured in oak barriques (maximum 50% new) for 16 months. Phélan Ségur usually requires at least five to seven years of bottle ageing to show at its best, and the finest vintages can continue improving for up to 15 years.

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Saint-Estèphe

Saint-Estèphe

Saint-Estèphe is the northernmost of the most important communes of the Médoc and borders Pauillac on its southernmost border, with only a gully and stream separates it from Ch. Lafite. To the north lies the Bas-Médoc.

Saint-Estèphe is defined by the depth of its gravel, which is ubiquitous but of varying depths and occasionally very shallow, when clay predominates. This keeps the soil cooler and wetter than its counterparts so that the wines can appear fresh in lighter vintages, but superbly successful in hot, dry years. 

The best châteaux in the south of the commune have the deepest soil and the thickest gravel. Cos d'Estournel has an exceptional terroir with its vineyards being located on a south-facing ridge of gravel with excellent drainage. 

Saint-Estèphe is the least gravelly of main Médoc communes and in the north of the commune the vineyards are heavier and more clay-based leading to a rustic style of wine being produced.

The wines can appear austere in youth with a discernable ferric note at some châteaux, but the best typically display good depth of colour, pronounced acidity an tannins in youth and are exceptionally long-lived. At their best, they are the equal of almost any Bordeaux. The well-regarded St Estèphe co-operative controls the production of about half the appellation.

Recommended Châteaux
Cos (Ch. Cos d'Estournel), Ch. Montrose, Ch. Calon-Ségur, Ch. Lafon-Rochet, Ch. Les Ormes de Pez, Ch. Beau-Site, Ch. Cos Labory, Ch. Phélan-Ségur

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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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