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Wine Description
The Story
The Grand Vin of Château Phélan Ségur comes from this magnificent terroir of Saint-Estèphe where power dominates. Strengthened by its origins, Château Phélan Ségur has created its identity based on elegance and finesse. With a certain restraint and great precision, it reveals the purity of the fruit, the accuracy of its structure, the silkiness of its tannins, all with a natural freshness. After long ageing, it reveals a bouquet of a rare complexity, the oak harmoniously integrated. This subtle and authentic balance creates an intense emotion. Château Phélan Ségur is known for its potential to age over several decades.
An old vintage opens new aromatic horizons with an unexpected richness: the warmth of spices, the generosity of ripe fruits and the nobility of leather. Its texture is refined, its power is calmed. This fullness is a testimony to the passage of time and this blossoming is the reward of astute patience. Exceptional vintages born of the generosity of Nature transcended by the talent of man. Beyond these undisputed landmarks, there are vintages dear to the Gardinier family and the team at the Château. They are witnesses to the life of the property and the expression of great emotions.
Wine Information
This year produced grapes of such ripeness that the issue was to create a balanced wine and preserve the freshness. In March 2012, Robert Parker wrote : “The best Phelan-Segur since the 1990, this is a rather dense, full-bodied, massive wine... Sweet blackberry and black raspberry fruit intermixed with crushed rock and a hint of subtle oak jump from the glass of this full-bodied, intense, yet attractive and alluring wine. There is significant depth and substance to this Phelan-Segur, which is a sleeper of the vintage that should last up to 15 or more years.”
Like many of the top 2009s, Phelan-Segur is a huge, full-bodied effort with massive fruit as well as good freshness, precision, and elegance. This is all rather paradoxical given previous great vintages that either lean toward cooler vintage characteristics or hot ones. This 2009 possesses both styles. It exhibits lots of mulberry, boysenberry, and crushed, jammy black fruits, abundant tannin, medium to full body, an opulent mouthfeel, and enough structure to evolve for two decades or more. This is a sleeper of the vintage. (Tasted two times.) Drink 2010-2030. Score: 90/92.
Vintage 2009
Much like 1947, 1961 and 2005, 2009 is a year of almost overly (for Bordeaux) flamboyant and opulent wines with high maturity and low acidity. The tannins are exceptionally ripe, while the wines are quite voluptuous in style. The Left Bank recorded more hours of sunshine than legendary vintages such as 1947 and 1982, and the grapes had higher sugar concentrations than in 2003 and 2005. The key was significant diurnal temperature variations that allowed the grapes to withstand hot daytime temperatures. An exceptional vintage on all levels.
