Red Wines

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A wine that’s going to flirt with perfection, the 2022 Château Calon Ségur is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, harvested between September 12 and 26, from yields of 40 hectoliters per hectare. Its deep purple hue is followed by a heavenly bouquet of cassis, smoke tobacco, flowery incense, and toasted spices. This ripe, sexy, full-bodied beauty has ultra-fine tannins, a layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, and a great finish. Its tannins, as well as its overall balance and purity, are just about off the charts, and this remarkable effort shows how successful the northern part of the Médoc was in 2022. Bravo!Jeb Dunnuck | 97-99 JDThe 2022 Calon-Ségur is another superb wine from this historic Saint-Estèphe third growth that began a comprehensive renaissance the better part of a decade ago. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of cassis and blackberries mingled with hints of fresh mint, burning embers, licorice and violets, it’s medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with terrific depth at the core, supple tannins and a long, saline finish. The blend consists of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Vincent Millet observed that "when you tasted the Merlot, you were under the impression that you were tasting Cabernet."Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96-98 RPRich and vibrant on the nose, smells concentrated and alcoholic. Crisp and clean on the palate however with bite to the cherry, plum and blackcurrant fruit alongside a hint of sweet strawberry and herbal raspberry on the mid palate that gives some instant energy before the clear concentration and heft of the wine shows through. Not so much in the texture but in the ripe flavours, cool minty and stone edged tannins and clear liquorice and clove spice. Still taught but detailed with elements of generosity. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 3.65pH. A yield of 26hl/ha. Ageing 17 months, 30% new oak.Decanter | 96 DECA very juicy red with redcurrant and creme de cassis as well as hints of nutmeg and cloves. It’s full and polished with very pretty tannins that show length and focus. Traditional and typical for Calon with the tannin structure. A little closed today. But serious structure.James Suckling | 95-96 JSThe 2022 Calon Segur is composed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it erupts from the glass with powerful scents of creme de cassis, blackberry preserves, and fruitcake, leading to touches of wild sage, smoked meats, Chinese five spice, and camphor with a waft of graphite. The full-bodied palate is super concentrated and hedonic, delivering impactful black and blue fruit preserves layers with a velvety texture and lively backbone, finishing with long lingering exotic spice notes. It’s big, sure, but it is also very bright and energetic. The alcohol is 15% and the pH 3.8.The Wine Independent | 95-97+ TWIThe 2022 Calon-Ségur was cropped at 26hL/ha compared to 36hL/ha last year. Matured for 20 months in new oak, it has a well-defined bouquet with blackberry, raspberry, cedar and subtle tobacco scents. The 2022 is tight at first but opens with aeration (winemaker Vincent Millet remarked how the wine was much more expressive the week I tasted it in mid-April compared to the previous week). The palate is classically styled with impressive mid-palate depth. With strict tannins and multi-layered graphite-infused black fruit, this is reminiscent of some postwar Calon-Ségur’s I have tasted. I wonder if slightly less vin de presse would have been better? Uncompromising, perhaps that might be its virtue, but it means that patience will be required.Vinous Media | 94-96 VM