Phélan Ségur 2023

The polish and intensity of this wine is beautiful for the vintage, with blackcurrant, lead pencil and light chocolate character. It’s medium- to full-bodied with well-integrated fruit and tannins, and a long finish. Velvet texture. Excellent potential. Fermented from selected yeast from the various parcels. 58% cabernet sauvignon, 39% merlot, 1.5% petit verdot, and 1.5% cabernet franc. Let’s see which is better in the end, 2022 or 2023.

A brilliant wine from this team, if not the best yet, the 2023 Château Phélan Ségur sports a deep purple hue as well as a gorgeous perfume of cassis and darker fruits intermixed with violets, spicy wood, graphite, and spice. Based on 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot and aged 18 months in 55% new French oak, it's medium to full-bodied and has a pure, graceful mouthfeel, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. It's well worth seeking out and worth every penny. Roughly 20,800 cases produced. Drink 2026-2040.

An excellent Phélan. Darkly fragrant, herbal and softly floral with blackcurrant, red cherry and coffee bean accents. Smooth and supple, gorgeous approachability in the juiciness and sense of life. So easy to enjoy this, cool and classic scents of blue fruits and crisp red fruit. Layered, clean and finessed. Svelte, not much muscle but there’s underlying power in the long finish with hints of mint. Extremely balanced and juicy, with a touch of sweetness and freshness and then the cleaning minerality comes through giving a powdery soft ending with elements of wet stone and graphite. Very St-Estephe and very successful. 52hl/ha yield. 60% grand vin, 40% second wine. Two thirds of the wine is vinified with with indigenous yeasts to give more terroir identity. Longest harvest ever at the estate, beginning on September 18 until October 11. 1.5% Petit Verdot completes the blend.

Standout quality, delivering squid ink, cocoa bean, espresso, fresh cut herbs, sculpted and impressively confident, with frame and architecture while remaining succulent, and appealing. Will be ready to drink within four or five years of bottling but go for decades. Harvest began here on September 18, with the Cabernets coming in early October, finishing on the 11th (longest harvest on record, 18 days picking over one month). Native yeasts for fermentation after an extensive programme combining many wild yeasts from their vineyard, under the direction of the team Luc Peyronnet and Stéphane Rougé. An exciting estate right now, Philippe Van de Vyvere owner, Veronique Dausse director. Really one to look out for. If you follow my notes I hate saying this, but truly believe this is the best Phélan Ségur that I have tasted En Primeur. 55% new oak for ageing.

The 2023 Phélan Ségur is superb. Dark and expansive on the palate, the 2023 offers up a gorgeous mélange of black-toned fruit, gravel, incense, lavender, dried herbs and mocha. Rich yet light on its feet, the 2023 is pure seduction. Phélan Ségur is one of the great values in wine. Recent vintages have been especially fine. The 2023 is certainly no exception.

The 2023 Phélan Ségur is quite backward on the nose at first, less forthcoming than some of its peers. It eventually opens with blackberry, violet and crushed strawberry, still just a little confit-like in character. The palate is medium-bodied, with firm tannins on the entry. Good body and weight, plenty of fruit concentration but tightly wound on the finish. Afford this four or five years in bottle and you will be rewarded.

The 2023 Phelan Segur is deep garnet-purple in color. Notes of crushed blackcurrants, fresh blackberries, and Morello cherries hop from the glass, giving way to hints of dried Provence herbs, black pepper, and graphite. The medium-bodied palate is lively and refreshing, with a light chewiness to the tannins and a savory finish. The blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot.

A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot, the 2023 Phelan Segur offers up aromas of cassis, dark berries, licorice and toasty new oak, followed by a medium to full-bodied, deep and nicely concentrated palate with plenty of powdery structuring tannin and good length on the finish. It's a strong effort.