The 2021 Calon Ségur was cropped at 36hL/ha and aged entirely in new oak for a planned 20 months. This year, the gap between the Grand Vin and the Marquis is blatantly obvious, to the extent that they are practically different wines, which is how Vincent Millet and his team treat them. The Cabernet is firmly in the driving seat here, with detailed, graphite-infused black fruit and a background florality that comes through with aeration. The medium-bodied palate displays very fine tannins, superb acidity (pH 3.65) and impressive harmony. This has exemplary build in the mouth, fine weight on the finish and a persistent aftertaste. An outstanding Calon-Ségur, elevated by the risks taken in de-leafing in June and waiting to pick. Bravo. 12.9% alcohol Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2022

A brilliant effort that will delight Médoc purists, the 2021 Calon-Ségur wafts from the glass with aromas of rose petals, wild berries, plums, Indian spices, woodsmoke and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and seamless, it's deep and lively, with beautifully ripe tannins and an exquisitely balanced profile. In spirit, this blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot is reminiscent of the 1996 vintage, though the 2021 won't go through such an extended period of hibernation and will attain a much higher peak of quality. It attained 12.9% alcohol without any chaptalization, saignée or osmosis. Tasted twice.
William Kelley, April 2022

This is delicious, refined, poised, one of the wines of the vintage. Has the signature of 2021 in terms of cool and savoury fruits, with graphite and gunsmoke aromatics. A cool climate Calon, very different from the style of wines you have found here in the trio of 2018-2019-2020, but it is successful, and a fine example of the savoury, sculpted wines that were possible within the conditions of the year. Understated power, juicy finish, old school elegance. You can begin drink in around 6 or 7 years, but will age. On questioning, there were a few reasons for their success - they deleafed on both sides at the end of June for the first time since director Vincent Millet arrived at Calon in 2006 to aerate the grapes, and together with the dry August were able to get some natural concentration. Harvest September 28 until October 14, 100% new oak. 43% 1st wine, 36hl/h yield. Potential upscore when in bottle.
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, May 2022

Gentle cherry blossom fragrance with raspberry, cranberry and red cherry. Floral and super aromatic. Tangy and clean, a lovely crystalline aspect to the palate - nicely lean and straight, touching on austere but this also has an enjoyable creaminess that gives the weight and texture and sustains the wine to a long finish. I love the mineral ending, pure and precise. Really elegantly presented, not trying too hard. Very drinkable.

Really rich, deep, harmonious nose, with dark fruits and a beautiful stony, mineral, salty character. Stunning tannins, really powder-fine, carrying lots of ripe black cherry and red cherry fruits, ripe strawberry, blood orange, white stone mineral and nori seaweed. Perfumed and elegant. A vintage defying wine.
April 2022

The 2021 Calon Ségur is a gorgeous wine that is going to need a number of years to fully come into its own. Aromatic, punchy and croquant, as the French say, the 2021 is a vibrant, mid-weight Calon that will delight readers who enjoy classically built claret. Don't look for the size or opulence of recent vintages. The 2021 is a cool, classy Saint-Estèphe to savor for years and decades to come. I loved it.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2022

One of the true gems in the vintage is the 2021 Château Calon Ségur, which comes from tiny yields of 26 hectoliters per hectare and 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. This beauty was aged in 100% new barrels for 20 months and hit 13% alcohol. It brings more depth, sweet fruit, and charm than most in the vintage and has a complex, layered style in its cassis, black raspberries, tobacco, leather, and savory flower-like aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, this balanced, layered, complete 2021 has ripe tannins, the vintage’s focused, elegant style, solid mid-palate depth, and a beautiful finish. It already offers pleasure, but it warrants 4-5 years of bottle age and will provide two decades of prime drinking. This vintage doesn't get much better, and this is worth your time and money.

Maintains the clarity and precision that it showed En Primeur, with finely cut tannins, cassis fruits and bitter black chocolate. Savoury and finessed, grilled sandalwood and cocoa bean. Good stuff, understated but refined. Harvest September 28 to October 14, 100% new oak, 43% 1st wine, 36hl/h yield. Old school finesse, not exuberance. Director Vincent Millet.

A juicy and caressingly astringent red with currant, berry and cedar aromas with citrus undertones. Medium body. Firm and silky with a delicious finish. A little tight at the end. Two or three years will open it up.

Revisited in bottle, the 2021 Calon-Ségur opens in the glass with aromas of dark berries mingled with aromas of violets, pencil shavings, lilac, Indian spices, cigar wrapper and grilled meats. Medium to full-bodied, dense and suave, with powdery tannins, lively acids and a penetratingly sapid and discreetly carnal finish, it appears to have lost a touch of aromatic precision during élevage, but it remains a compelling Calon-Ségur.

Fine, floral bouquet. Density on attack, the oak a touch present but plentiful tannins that are smooth and honed. Plenty of matière and freshness from beginning to end. Clearly has potential. (JL) 12.9%
Drink 2029 – 2048
Jancisrobinson.com, May 2022

Impressive from the start and incredibly fresh and clean on the nose and palate, this is, once again, a mesmerising performance from this quiet little property with its modest and yet starry owners. With a heightened rainfall in June, the Merlot was under a lot of pressure, and they lost about 20% of the crop. Having said this, both Cabernets came in around 40 hl/ha, which was encouraging. Good sunny conditions at the beginning of October gave this wine its fleshiness and silkiness. They started harvesting Cabernet Franc on the 4th of October, and the finest Cabernet Sauvignon came in between the 12th and 14th. This is the key to the volume of flavour and the purity, and winemaker Vincent Millet feels like this vintage is not dissimilar in flavour profile to 2016, which also had high levels of Cabernet. Still, unlike 2016, 2021 has a remarkable immediacy and lust for life. It is refreshing, and I don’t doubt that it will be ready to go on release!
May 2022