2012 Phelan Segur
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2012 Phélan Ségur has a light minty bouquet that lacks a bit of vigour, though it opens nicely in the glass to reveal more spicebox aromas, yet after 5 minutes it begins to oxidise. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy ripe tannins, fine acidity, cohesive but not deep. Grippy and ferrous, some dryness seems to develop with aeration. I have definitely encountered better bottles, hence the question mark against my score. Tasted blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
Tasted blind. Verging on oxidation. Round with tannins fully resolved and faded fruit. No freshness. Definitely a bad bottle. (JR)
Tasted blind. Lots of glamour and density on the nose with real St-Estèphe integrity too. Round and chock full of St-Estèphe stoniness. Beautiful texture. Should last very well for a 2012 but not as well as other vintages. The most concentrated wine of the Southwold tasting so far (though I have not yet tasted the 2012 Pauillacs). (JR)
The 2012 Phélan Ségur is a pleasing, mid-weight wine. Dark cherry, iron, smoke, dried flowers are all nicely delineated in the glass. Next to most of its neighbors, Phélan Ségur is quite restrained in style and not at all flashy, but the 2012 will appeal to classicists for its unfussy personality.
About the producer
With 70 hectares under vine, Ch. Phélan Ségur sits on the eastern side of Saint-Estèphe – neighbouring Montrose and Calon Ségur. Owned by Philippe van de Vyvere since 2017, its gravel soils produce typically firm wines.