Saint Estephe Wines

wines

I always loved this wine from the first time I tasted it in 1998. It has such purity and power yet it’s reserved and beautiful. It’s one of the best Calons ever. I drank a bottle with some friends in Manhattan last week and it was the wine of the evening. It was full-bodied with silky tannins and a focused and intense finish. Lots of currant and berry character and hints of dried spices. It’s finally opening up and giving real pleasure now like so many 1995 Bordeaux at the moment.James Suckling | 97 JSIncredible nose of crushed berries, flowers, spices and nuts. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a long, long finish. Powerful and solid. Builds on the palate. Give it time.--’95/’96 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2009.Wine Spectator | 95 WSTasted from an ex-château bottle at BI Wine & Spirits Calon-Segur dinner in London. The 1995 Calon-Segur was the vintage that raised the profile of this estate and heralded the start of the late Mme Gasqueton’s era. At 20 years of age, it shows no signs of reaching the end of its plateau. Far from it. It has an endearing bouquet that still seems youthful: brambly red fruit, asphalt and a light marine influence. Allowing the wine to open, there is a subtle winegum scent. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, impressive depth and backbone, the second half having mellowed in recent years, rendering this approachable; hints of secondary truffle and smoke notes emerging with aeration. It has been several years since I last tasted this wine, but it is one that seems to become more and more impressive with age. Robert Parker rightly lauded this Calon-Ségur at the time of release. Twenty years on, it is fulfilling all its promise. Tasted March 2015.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 94 RP-NM(Château Calon-Ségur (St. Estèphe)) The 1995 vintage is one I would like to do a retrospective feature on, but as it was the first year in Bordeaux where wines took a steep increase in price from their 1980s levels, I did not buy the vintage for my own cellar, even though the isolated examples I tasted early on I always found quite promising. In any case, this 1995 Calon-Ségur (which a friend recently blinded me on), was excellent in quality and starting to really drink nicely. The bouquet is precise and pure, wafting from the glass in a fine blend of cassis, cigar smoke, a complex base of dark soil tones, a suave foundation of nutty new oak and a topnote of tobacco leaf. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and impeccably balanced, with a lovely core of fruit, good soil signature, ripe, melting tannins and lovely focus and grip on the complex finish. Whether or not the overall vintage of 1995 is top flight or not, the Calon-Ségur is certainly a superb wine. (Drink between 2019-2050).John Gilman | 93 JGGood deep red-ruby color. Black cherry, leather, olive and a hint of crystallized berries; fresher on the nose than the ’97. Sweet, firmly structured and very nicely balanced, with strong but integrated acidity and very good flavor definition. Tannins are ripe and fine.Vinous Media | 91 VM

Unquestionably one of the top 2-3 wines of the vintage, the 2016 Château Montrose is a monument in the making. Checking in as a blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 7% Cabernet Franc raised in 60% new French oak (the balance was in once-used barrels) and representing a tiny 36% of the production, this deep purple-colored 2016 possesses powerful, incredibly classic Saint-Estephe notes of creme de cassis, graphite, damp earth, lead pencil shavings, and burning embers. With a powerful, full-bodied style on the palate, a huge mid-palate, lots of underlying structure and tannic grip, and perfect balance, this magical wine will need upwards of a decade or cellaring and keep for 40-50 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDDeep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Montrose is a little youthfully shy to begin, but with coaxing, it unfurls to reveal the most beguiling scents of wilted roses, oolong tea, crushed rocks, wild sage, star anise and candied violets over a wonderfully pristine, well-defined core of crushed blackcurrants, black raspberries and kirsch plus wafts of pencil lead and wood smoke. The taut, muscular, medium to full-bodied palate straddles jaw-dropping intensity and finesse superbly, featuring a solid backbone of ripe tannins and giving a firm frame right through the incredibly long, exquisitely nuanced finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPNow owned by the Bouygues family and managed by Hervé Berland, formerly at Mouton Rothschild, Montrose is one of the finest classed growths. Structured, long-living, this needs time to settle and open up but will be stunning. Pure dark currant and berry fruit, mineral and menthol notes, glossy oak and tannins and a lingering finish suggest this may be the finest Montrose since 1990. (Drink between 2025-2050)Decanter | 98 DECThe floral and fresh aromas to this are mesmerizing. Roses and lilacs galore. The pure cab aromas coming from the glass – blackcurrants and blackberries – are so memorable. Full-bodied, deep and profound. The ultra-fine tannins on the palate are so polished and fine-grained. The finish goes on for minutes with subtle yet superb fruit. It’s all about precision and form here. A modern classic for Montrose. Better after 2026.James Suckling | 98 JSThe 2016 Montrose is every bit as impressive as it was from barrel, maybe more. Tightly wound and vertical, with remarkable intensity, the 2016 is simply magnificent. The tannins are there, but they are nearly buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit. All the elements are impeccably balanced in a wine of pedigree, depth and character. The 2016 is going to need a number of years to be at its best, but it is clearly a very special wine in the making. In a word: dazzling.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGWhile this wine’s tannins are powerful. they are buried in a surprisingly soft texture of rich black fruits. With both structure and ripe blackberry flavors, the wine is already balanced. A juicy aftertaste lifts the tannins, pushing the wine into greatness. Drink from 2025.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEVery pure, with lilac, violet, cassis, bitter cherry and damson plum notes streaming through in lockstep right from the start. A fine chalky underpinning gives the finish a sleek and racy edge. A beautifully precise wine, with a lot in reserve, that could benefit from a little added weight in the cellar. Best from 2025 through 2040.Wine Spectator | 96 WS