1989 Saint-Estèphe, Château Calon Ségur
About Producer
The most northerly grand cru classé in the Médoc, Calon Ségur’s 55ha vineyards are mostly walled and sit on gravel, sand and clay over limestone subsoil. The name Calon is derived from the ancient word 'calones' which refers to small boats used in the Middle Ages for transporting timber up and down the estuary. The heart on the label is a reference to the 18th-century owner Nicolas-Alexandre Marquis de Ségur, aka the Prince of Vines, who famously declared ‘I make wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart belongs to Calon’. The modern era of this estate started in 1894 when it was acquired by the Gasqueton family. Following Madame Denise Gasqueton’s death in 2011, Calon Ségur was sold in 2012 to Suravenir, an insurance company. The new owners have conducted large-scale renovation works with an extensive restructuring of the vineyard to give more prominence to cabernet sauvignon. For long considered as a good but not stupendous cru classé, Calon Ségur has now joined the top flight of Médoc estates thanks to a string of stylish wines produced in recent vintages.
Varietals
Blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot.
About Appellation
With 1,229ha of vines, and roughly equidistant from the city of Bordeaux and the Pointe de Grave, the northernmost tip of the Médoc peninsula, Saint-Estèphe is the second largest AOC communal appellation of the Médoc. Though the first vines dated back to Roman times, the expansion of vineyards started in the 14th century with the creation of estates that still exist today. The soil is a mix of gravel, clay and sand, with a slightly higher proportion of clay than elsewhere in the Médoc. Hence Saint-Estèphe has a unique ability to hold water reserves. The best vineyard sites are the gravelly mounds facing the Gironde estuary where cabernet sauvignon is the majority varietal. In recent years, there has been a shift by some estates toward merlot which performs better on clay-rich soils. Saint-Estèphe is home to 5 grands crus classés in the 1855 Bordeaux classification.
Tasting Notes
Fragrant nose of black fruits, balsamic notes, cigar, leather, cedar and dark soil tones, rich mouthfeel with dense texture, broad structure and good depth, multilayered flavours of black cherry, dark berries, roasted meat, truffle, umami, star anise, menthol and grilled herbs intermingled with forest floor undertones, balanced acidity and melted tannins carrying through a long, savoury finish. This is the last bottle of a case I received as a gift in the early 1990s. Back then, the estate was owned by the Gasqueton family who bought the property in the late 19th century. Though Calon Ségur was then mostly known for its burly and coarse wines, this 1989, an underrated vintage, was a noteworthy effort that heralded the more refined style produced by this estate in the ensuing decades. Having shed the austere traits of its youthful years, this has evolved into a very pleasurable wine with captivating charm and lingering complexity. Slightly past its apogee, it’s somewhat rustic and old school yet utterly enjoyable at 34 years old, although far removed from the brilliant vintages recently produced under the new ownership that have propelled Calon Ségur to the Médoc elite. (11/2023)