Juicy and lively fragrance on the nose – so perfumed and alluring. Delicate and pure on the palate, crystalline yet with such intensity. A rush of creamy tangy strawberries, herbal-edged raspberries and plum fruit lined with salty minerality gives the nuance and detail. It’s lightly framed with well integrated tannins that are fine and firm, tense just giving some tightness on the mid-palate, a sense of compactness, but then it opens again towards the finish. Cool and ethereal, this exudes charm and confidence. Extremely well made and totally seductive. I love the juiciness and sense of joyfulness, but it’s also beguiling as it deepens and grows in layers of chalk, slate, bramble fruits, perfume and florality. Another excellent wine from Rauzan with delicacy, detall and drinkability. Stunning. Drinking Window: 2028 - 2058
Tasted by: Georgina Hindle (at Bordeaux, 03 Jan 2023)
Part of Bordeaux 2020 in bottle: overview plus top-scoring wines

Incredibly dark in color, the wine explodes with violets, boysenberry, cigar box, graphite, blackberry, plum, black cherry, toasty oak and spice. Full-bodied, with a fabulous depth of flavor, energy, purity and refinement, the wine is long, intense and silky. The finish, with its velvet-drenched layers of fruits entices you to take another sip, simply because it is that good. The finish holds on to for close to 50 seconds, leaving you with a wealth of expansive fruit, espresso and dark cocoa. The wine blends 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, 13.5% ABV, pH 3.74. The harvest took place September 8 - September 29. 97-99

A very polished red with blackberry, black olive, walnut, and crushed stone aromas that follow through to a medium to full body with polished, velvety tannins that go on for minutes. Surprisingly open and so attractive. Wonderful length to this. Needs four to five years to open. Best after 2026.

The 2020 Rauzan-Ségla is a huge, explosive wine. Black cherry, plum, chocolate, licorice, smoke and incense are some of the many notes that infuse the 2020 with tremendous richness. With élevage, the 2020 has grown into a huge, brooding wine endowed with notable presence. There's great purity and class here. The 2020 is a powerful, brooding Rauzan-Ségla for readers who can be patient. Very patient. Tasted two times.

Drink Date
2026 - 2056

Reviewed by - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Composed of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Rauzan-Ségla is aging for 18 months in French oak barrels, 60% new. It has an alcohol of 13.5% and a pH of 3.74. Deep purple-black colored, aromas of blackcurrant cordial, stewed red and black plums, chocolate-covered cherries and raspberry coulis erupt from the glass, leading to an undercurrent of tar, licorice, red roses and menthol, plus a hint of unsmoked cigars. The medium-bodied palate is elegant and yet manages seriously impressive intensity, which is well-sustained throughout the mid-palate and finish. Refined and refreshing, delivering beautifully soft, silt-like tannins and bags of bright red and black fruits, it finishes with amazing length and a stunning perfume. Between this and Château Canon, Nicolas Audebert and his team have knocked it out of the park this vintage.

The 2020 Rauzan-Ségla is more open on the nose than when I tasted it from barrel. Quite intense with blackberry, crushed violet, oyster shell and just a touch of pencil box. It actually pulls back a little with aeration, almost as if it is (to quote The Specials) showing too much, too young. The palate is pixelated on the entry, perfectly proportioned with seamlessly integrated oak, a silver bead of acidity. Not ostentatious in any way, but streamlined and holding something back on the finish, which bodes well for the future. This is deeply impressive.

The 2020 Château Rauzan-Ségla checks in as 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. It's one of the more inky, backward wines I can recall from this address and has brooding notes of blackcurrants, spring flowers, tobacco, graphite, and crushed stone. A big, rich, concentrated 2020, it's medium to full-bodied, has ripe, building tannins, fabulous purity, and a great finish. There's a certain austerity here that makes me think this will be one for the cellar.

(60% CS, 36% M, 3% PV, 1% CF; 30hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; 60% new)
Quite dense, blackberry, blackcurrant, and gravel, very persistent; rich midweight, with a most attractive fleshy yet fresh feel and a superfine, almost imperceptible tannin, a very fine balance; a lovely impression of richness without force, sweetly ripe, long, refined, subtle, succulent, satiny, so even, so effortless, and finishing with a wonderful freshness. A new, particularly plush, silky texture, a real beauty in the vintage. A gem, which will become a great RS with age. 2030–50+.

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc. Cask sample.
Almost the same blend as last year. Perfumed violet, floral aroma with a hint of minty freshness. Smooth and spherical on attack then long and linear. Plentiful but finely honed tannins. Lovely poise and balance. A touch steelier than 2019 but clear potential. (JL)