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Wine Description
The Story
Fifty-five hectares (136 acres) at the time of the 1855 classification, fifty-five hectares today: the estate is a rare example of consistency of terroir over the centuries.
The vineyard is made up of one single block adjacent to the village of Saint-Estèphe. Unique in the Médoc, it is completely surrounded by a stone wall. Inside, closest to the château, this “enclos” groups together the most famous plots of Calon.
There are very few geological models that can be compared with the terroir of Calon Ségur. The vines delve down into a deep gravel layer that was deposited there by the river. This layer covers another which is predominantly clay. This combination of clay and gravel soils is one of the main reasons for the power and finesse displayed in the wines of Calon Ségur.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the backbone of Calon Ségur. This grape variety makes up over three-quarters of the blend, and in great years its proportion can be as high as 90%.
No great wines can ever be made without constant and meticulous care of the vines. The soils are ploughed in the time-honoured tradition. From spring to autumn, vine canopy management tasks are done by large numbers of vineyard personnel. The crop is picked by hand at perfect ripeness.
| APPELLATION | Saint-Estèphe. Third classified Growth in 1855. |
|---|---|
| CONSULTANT ŒNOLOGIST | Éric Boissenot. |
| SOIL | A thick layer of gravel laid down during the Quaternary Period. Predominantly clay sub-soil from the Tertiary Period. At the summit of the gravel deposits, there is also a fine layer of clay of lacustrine origin. |
| VINEYARD AREA | 55 ha (136 acres). |
| AREA IN PRODUCTION | 45 ha (50 ha planted). |
| GRAPE VARIETIES | 53% Cabernet sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 7% Cabernet franc, 2% petit Verdot. |
| AVERAGE AGE OF THE VINES | 22 years. |
| TRAINING METHOD | Double Guyot. |
| PLANTING DENSITY | 8,000 vines/ha. |
| TARGET YIELD | 45 hl/ha. |
| HARVEST | Hand picking. A first selection of grapes on the vine. Mechanical sorting of the grapes by vibration, followed by hand sorting. |
| VINIFICATION | Temperature-controlled conical stainless-steel tanks. Maceration for 18 to 21 days. |
| AGEING | 18 to 20 months, 30% new barrels. Fining with egg white. |
| AVERAGE ANNUAL PRODUCTION | Around 80,000 bottles. |
Vintage 2020
In Bordeaux, the heat resulted in early flowering. Also, this led to an early harvest after a very hot summer. As a starting point, there is great maturity in the grapes, and one can expect a more opulent vintage than in the last few years.
The summer this year has been the warmest since 1959, yet the rain has fallen at the right times during the growing season. The harvest took place two weeks before the norm and will yield grapes with high potential alcohol and the lowest acidity since the 2003 vintage. As they say in Bordeaux: "It has been a good and extreme growing season which hopefully also produces great wines".
