Chateau Calon Segur 2020

Even visually this stands apart with its inky, glass-staining ruby colour. Rich and powerful but restrained, this is a brilliant Calon Ségur, more old school than the past few vintages in that there is tight cassis, eucalyptus and mint leaf restraint, but still utterly luscious black cherry and damson fruits, concentrated, supple and chiselled tannins with a touch of crème de cassis and incense. Exceptionally impressive. 47% of overall production, 33hl/h yield, 100% new oak, 3.85ph. Vincent Millet director as well as technical director.

• Drinking Window: 2030 - 2050
• Reviewer Name: Jane Anson
• Review Date: November 2022

A return to form in my eyes for Calon Ségur after the atypical 2018, rippling with elegance, balance and savoury blue fruits of Cabernet, with rose and peony flowers. Concentrated, chiselled and juicy, this has clear personality and equals the great, classically balanced vintages of Calon like 2016. A yield of 33hl/ha, 3.85pH, 100% new oak. Vincent Millet is now overall director as well as technical director, since the departure of Laurent Dufau in 2020.

• Drinking Window: 2029 - 2048
• Reviewer Name: Jane Anson
• Review Date: May 2021

The 2020 Calon-S�gur is a brilliant wine from an estate in the ascendant. Wafting from the glass with aromas of cassis, red berries, fresh mint, pencil shavings, violets and rose petals, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a vibrant core of fruit, powdery structuring tannins and a long, perfumed finish. Integrated and harmonious, this pure, concentrated and dynamic wine is one of the finest vintages that Vincent Millet and his team have produced to date.

• Drinking Window: 2027 - 2065
• Reviewer Name: William Kelley
• Review Date: April 2023

If you are not familiar with everything going on with Calon Segur these days, you need to taste this wine. Deeply colored, without hesitation the wine shoots from the glass with Asian spice, boysenberry, black currants, cedar, cigar box, tobacco leaf, lead pencil and forest leaf. Full-bodied, concentrated, powerful and rich, yet it is also balanced, refined, and intense. There is purity in the fruits, freshness and symmetry, ending with seamless waves of perfectly ripe, creme de cassis. Let this rest for at least a decade and enjoy for 3 or more decades after that. The wine blends 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. 13.8% ABV.

• Reviewer Name: Jeff Leve
• Review Date: May 2021

The 2020 Calon Ségur is a powerhouse. A blast of dark cherry fruit, menthol, tar, licorice and gravel infuse the 2020 with remarkable depth. Sumptuous and full-bodied, the 2020 shows all the richness and textural depth of the year. The tannins are imposing, but there's a good deal of fruit too. This is an especially opulent Grand Vin, in line with vintages like 2018 stylistically, but with 1% less alcohol. Tasted two times.

• Drinking Window: 2030 - 2050
• Reviewer Name: Antonio Galloni
• Review Date: February 2023

Blueberries, blackberries, spearmint, currants and sweet spices on the nose. Mocha and walnuts, too. Lots of flavor here, with a medium to full body and muscular yet velvety tannins that melt seamlessly into the wine. Long, polished and delicious already. Keeps going. Better from 2025.

• Reviewer Name: James Suckling
• Review Date: January 2023

78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. Cask sample. Classically structured and Cabernet-driven without the opulence of 2018 or the finesse of 2019. Pure and precise on the nose with cassis notes prevalent. Crunchy fruit on the palate with powdery tannins that build and drive to a dry finish. Verticality as in 2019. Perhaps a little chew but clean and saline on the finish. (JL) 13.8%

• Drinking Window: 2030 - 2050
• Reviewer Name: James Lawther MW
• Review Date: April 2021

The 2020 Calon-Ségur is allowed to open for over 90 minutes, unfurling in the glass with blackberry and bilberry scents, cedar and floral scents (almost identical to how it showed in barrel.) It just oozes pedigree. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins and quite plush red fruit. It is very well balanced without the backbone and depth of say, Montrose or Cos d'Estournel. It has gained a bit of heft on the finish during its élevage. However, it fans out in assured fashion. This should drink beautifully for 25 to 30 years.

• Drinking Window: 2024 - 2048
• Reviewer Name: Neal Martin
• Review Date: February 2023