Super fresh and floral with raspberry, currant and berry character. Full body, with fine tannins and a long, long finish. Bright and racy. 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot.

(78% Cabernet Sauvignon/2% Petit Verdot/20% Merlot) Leafy blackcurrant fruit, ripe cherry and warm earth. Lovely tense and vibrant palate. Chocolatey, black fruit, good structure, lovely. Really characterful, this is a good Calon.

The 2012 reveals an opaque ruby/purple color along with sweet tannins, low acidity, medium to full body, and abundant cedary, foresty notes intermixed with black cherries, black currants, caramel and spice box. This medium to full-bodied St.-Estephe should drink well in 4-5 years (atypical for a Calon Segur), and last for two decades. Calon Segur has one of the top dozen terroirs in all of Bordeaux, so I’m waiting to see how spectacular it can become under its new ownership. Certainly the team brought in to push the quality is the right one. I don’t know what the final blend of the relatively soft 2012 was, but I suspect it includes a copious percentage of Merlot, although Cabernet Sauvignon has dominated over recent years.

Tasted as a barrel sample at the château. The Grand Vin was picked between 1st and 16th October, the Cabernet from the 9th October, the fruit sorted by hand as it enters the winery rather than an optical sorting machine. It has a very fragrant bouquet, very pure with dark cherries and raspberry preserve, like a toned down version of the 2009. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp, chalky tannins. There is plenty of bright red fruit, fine focus and a very composed, quite suave finish that is presently driven by the 100% new oak. This is a great little wine from Calon Segur that should have plenty of class and sophistication once in bottle. Tasted April 2013.

[78CS/20M/2PV] Ripe, fine, gently cedary, gently minerally nose; very nicely balanced, elegant, moderately concentrated wine, particularly fine textured in its tannin, fresh in acidity; juicily ripe but also fresh and appetising, sweet and long, subtly racy and with fine aromatic length. Complete, restrained, classy. 2020-30+ [M.Schuster, Bordeaux Mar/Apr 2013]

Drink 2020-2035 Lively and some richness. Dry finish. But great vitality. Long and complete with no concessions to the vintage. Not as dense as Montrose.