Chateau Phelan Segur 2018
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling - Decanter
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Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Intense ruby red colour with purple reflections. Pure nose with an incredible intensity, dominated by notes of red fruit at perfect ripeness. Rich and harmonious attack, exceptional tannic structure, persistent and fleshy finish. Freshness, balance and great power characterise the vintage.
Blend: 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship 2018 Château Phélan Ségur is a beauty based on 57% Cabernet Sauvignon and 43% Merlot. This was a great vintage for the Médoc, and the 2018 reveals a dense purple hue to go with powerful notes of blackcurrants, iron, smoked tobacco, chocolate, and earth. Rich, full-bodied, and concentrated, it has beautiful tannin's, remarkable purity of fruit, and just does everything right. It has some up-front appeal today (no doubt due to the high Merlot content), yet it builds with time in the glass and shows more and more structure with air. It deserves 5-6 years of bottle age and will keep for 20-25. It's every bit as good as the 2016, if not better.
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackcurrants, spice and flowers follow through to a medium body with fine tannins and a delicious, savory finish. So lovely to drink now, but will improve nicely with age. Very refined and balanced. Try after 2022.
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Decanter
Brilliant, succulent and luscious fruit. Blackberry, damson, chocolate and sage with a brilliant hold and muscular tannins.
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Wine Spectator
This is really well-built, with a core of dark currant and blackberry paste flavors supported by racy charcoal and bay notes while flashes of savory and singed sandalwood dot the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2024 through 2035.
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Wine Enthusiast
Now on a roll, this estate is producing some fine wines. This latest release shows plenty of wood at this stage, but the bold black fruits are more than a match, giving the wine sumptuous richness. The wine needs time, so wait until 2026.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Phélan Ségur is composed of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon and 43% Merlot, weighing in at 14% alcohol, 3.8 pH and has an IPT (total polyphenol index) of 77. Deep purple-black in color, it leaps from the glass with vibrant notes of crushed blackberries, blackcurrant jelly and kirsch, plus suggestions of menthol, Ceylon tea, forest floor and lavender. The medium-bodied palate delivers elegance and impressive vivacity with finely grained tannin's and a refreshing line supporting the intense red and black berry layers, finishing long and perfumed. Rating 93+
Other Vintages
2022-
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James
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Connoisseurs'
Guide
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James
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Wine &
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James
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Robert
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When he died in 1841, Bernard Phelan left this vast estate, known from then on under the combined name of Chateau Segur de Garamey, to his son Frank. Frank devoted his life to promoting the renown and improving the quality of the wines produced on his property. In addition, he became the mayor of Saint-Estephe, holding the post for thirty years.
Since 1985, Xavier Gardinier has been running the vineyard with the help of his sons Thierry, Stephane and Laurent. The buildings have been totally renovated to express the spirit of their founders and house winemaking equipment enables the terroir to express itself in all its complexity. However, despite the undeniable attraction of the buildings' design and the high-tech nature of the equipment therein, they are only the necessary backdrop to the remarkable alchemy that produces each year's vintage.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Deeply colored, concentrated, and distinctive, St. Estephe is the go-to for great, age-worthy and reliable Bordeaux reds. Separated from Pauillac merely by a stream, St. Estephe is the farthest northwest of the highest classed villages of the Haut Medoc and is therefore subject to the most intense maritime influence of the Atlantic.
St. Estephe soils are rich in gravel like all of the best sites of the Haut Medoc but here the formation of gravel over clay creates a cooler atmosphere for its vines compared to those in the villages farther downstream. This results in delayed ripening and wines with higher acidity compared to the other villages.
While they can seem a bit austere when young, St. Estephe reds prove to live very long in the cellar. Traitionally dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, many producers now add a significant proportion of Merlot to the blend, which will soften any sharp edges of the more tannic, Cabernet.
The St. Estephe village contains two second growths, Chateau Montrose and Cos d’Estournel.