Château Phélan-Ségur

Assembled in the early nineteenth century by the Irishman Bernard Phelan, Château Phélan-Ségur commands 70 hectares of gravel above the Gironde in Saint-Estèphe. Long a family house — the Gardiniers sold to Philippe Van de Vyvere in 2018 — the estate has invested heavily in vineyard and cellar, and the wine now runs with the appellation's best: Cabernet-led, dark-fruited, and firmly built, the savory austerity of Saint-Estèphe softened by riper, more precise tannins. The second wine, Frank Phélan, carries the founder's son's name.