The most opulent, generous and decadent Calon-Segur I have ever tasted is the 1947. It revealed considerable amber and rust in its color, but the sweet, jammy nose of fruitcake, cedar, and colossal quantities of unctuously-textured black fruits is the stuff of legend. Thick and rich, with more glycerin, fruit, and alcohol than tannin, this is a juicy, fat wine that has been fully mature for 20+ years. It exhibited no signs of decline or fruit loss. Last tasted 7/97

Magnum. Made the year before Madame Capbern Gasqueton married into the family that owns Calon Ségur, and without the aid of new oak in these post-war years, this was a marvel. Still very very deep crimson, but with considerably evolution at the rim, the wine smelt arrestingly of violets and pepper. There was some leather and prunes and absolutely no reticence. While the wine is definitely evolved, it is also so brawny on the palate as to be almost rude. There are super-ripe flavours from this great, ripe vintage. Very sumptuous and grainy – still some tannins even – the wine yielded up some licorice towards the end of its considerable life in the glass. The wine was amazingly fresh and lively for a vintage as marked by heat and ripeness as 1947. A triumph and full vindication of the terroir. (JR)