Château Rauzan-Ségla

We have lived, generation after generation, in the very heart of this Land, cradled between the Estuary and the Ocean by the flow of the passing seasons, one with Mother Nature in this singular province known as Margaux. 

Our life here is dedicated to Vine and Wine, a unique world where savoir-faire and passion are indinguishable. All our ancestors before us nurtured the vineyard of Rauzan-Ségla with such perseverance that its true richness and intensity could be revealed. For over 350 years our wines have crossed the centuries, testifying, and never more so than now, to the excellence of our Cru. 

It is this timeless Passion that we would like to share with you today.

The work in the vineyard at Rauzan-Ségla is carried out plot by plot, plant by plant. The harvest is performed with the same painstaking care as the other tasks throughout the year. Each step is approached with the same attention to detail, from the picking to the production of the new wine.

Each vintage must be considered unique and be treated as such, demanding a renewed attention and making any attempt at an annual routine quite impossible. At Rauzan Ségla, nothing is left to chance, adapting to each year’s weather conditions and bringing out the best characteristics of the vintage. Not a day goes by without the technical team roaming up and down the rows of vines, tasting the grapes and judging their readiness. It is their expert palates that will dictate the harvest dates for each plot. This decision is primordial and carries with it the very style of the property. Precision and delicatesse are required if we are to pick grapes that are both ripe and fresh-tasting. When the signal is finally given the grapes are picked by hand with the greatest care. After a first selection by the picker, the bunches are placed in small six-kilo individual crates to avoid any crushing. They are then transported to the cellar to be sorted.

The bunches are tipped onto a first sorting table and checked before going into the de-stemmer. Once the stalks are removed, the berries continue onto a second sorting table. This last inspection ensures the elimination of any imperfect grapes. Only the best are poured into the small vinification vats. To avoid damaging the crop, the grapes are transported as quickly and gently as possible using a special gravity system.

Each plot is unique. The vinecare is adapted to each of them, its soil, subsoil and plants. The personality of each terroir can thus be revealed. In the same way, each entity is vinified separately to preserve and highlight the individuality of each plot, gaining richness in both aromas and flavours. The plot-by-plot vinification is performed in stainless steel vats of small capacities, again to improve the aromatic purity and to obtain greater complexity in the wines.

New step in the optimization of our winemaking tool with the acquisition of new small conical tanks to vinify our plots more precisely. We are investing, at the same time, in a new warehouse in order to be more efficient and effective in terms of shipment and storage. These are key steps to ensure the best presentation and quality of our wines before we ship the cases to our customers around the world.

The alcoholic fermentation starts under the effect of the grape yeast. The natural sugar in the grapes is gradually transformed into alcohol and the must gains in colour. To ensure a perfect extraction of the tannins and aromas, frequent pump-overs are performed for each vat. The young wine then macerates in contact with the skins for the next 15 to 20 days. This maceration phase brings a more complex, richer tannic extraction and aromatic development.

At the end of these three weeks of vatting time, the wine is separated from the pomace formed by the skin and pips. This free-run wine will undergo a second fermentation known as the malolactic fermentation. During this process the acidity in the wine will gradually diminish and a rounder, softer taste will appear.

Meanwhile the pomace is pressed and the powerful wine extracted is run into barrels. A certain proportion of this deeply-coloured, tannic press wine will be added to the final blend, to bring power and structure. The art of blending is magnified by these plot-by-plot vinifications that result in more and more complex wines.

From December to March, the technical experts at Rauzan Ségla then proceed to taste dozens of lots, regularly sampling wines from each plot of the vineyard. They fine-tune in this way the final blends, until at last the new vintage is born.