2021 Château Calon-Ségur

Tasted blind. Deep crimson. Sufficient fruit on the nose! Actual polish to the tannins and there is also fruit on the palate. A pleasure! Though fairly early-maturing. Good, sound finish. The brett police disapproved. (JR)

One of the true gems in the vintage is the 2021 Château Calon Ségur, which comes from tiny yields of 26 hectoliters per hectare and 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. This beauty was aged in 100% new barrels for 20 months and hit 13% alcohol. It brings more depth, sweet fruit, and charm than most in the vintage and has a complex, layered style in its cassis, black raspberries, tobacco, leather, and savory flower-like aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, this balanced, layered, complete 2021 has ripe tannins, the vintage’s focused, elegant style, solid mid-palate depth, and a beautiful finish. It already offers pleasure, but it warrants 4-5 years of bottle age and will provide two decades of prime drinking. This vintage doesn't get much better, and this is worth your time and money.

Tasting the 2021 Calon Ségur out of barrel, I opined that there was a gulf in quality between it and the Le Marquis, and that remains the case since it was bottled in mid-July. This has an absolutely exquisite, beautifully defined bouquet that possesses an almost Burgundy-like purity. Blackberry, raspberry coulis and hints of crushed strawberry blossom in the glass, very focused with seamlessly integrated new oak that is impossible to tell is completely new. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, modest weight and a very smooth texture—perhaps not quite as enthralling as the aromatics, though it is pure and, atypically for this Saint-Estèphe, quite sensual in style. Maybe it is missing just a touch of complexity on the finish, but otherwise, this is a very capable wine that should age with grace over the next 25 to 30 years.