2019 Phelan Segur
Buying options
Tasting notes
Sweet leather and violet aromas. The wine is subtle to begin with but builds beautifully on the palate. Dense, sinewy long tannins - ripe, fully resolved awash with a lovely freshness from both the tannins and acidity. Dense, opulent but with lovely restraint too. A lovely energy to the wine. Good sustain on the finish. Purity and clarity is retained on the palate. Great wine.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Decanter
More reviews and scores
Some guests preferred the 2019 Phélan-Ségur over the 2015 La Conseillante on this night. I can understand because it's a brilliant wine. It brims with ripe blackberry and bilberry on the nose, displaying the marine influence noted in previous bottles. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins, quite weighty and intense, offering immense persistency as it lacquers that mouth on the finish. I've tasted several bottles, and this wine is never disappointing.
The 2019 Phélan-Ségur has a well-defined bouquet with blackberry and bilberry fruit, a subtle marine influence that develops with aeration. Very cohesive. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, very precise with wonderful mineralité and tension. This oozes class, a Swiss watch of a Saint-Estèphe with outstanding length and complexity. Top drawer and a benchmark for the estate. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.
Tasted blind. Some evolution at the rim. Scented. Then pretty tough on the palate. The opposite of gentle. Stony, yes. Perhaps just a bit too austere? More fruit, please! (JR)
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.