Castle Calon Ségur - Saint-Estèphe 2009

Wine Advocate

94 / 100

byNeal Martinthe10/28/2016

Tasted from an ex-château bottle at BI Wine & Spirits Calon-Segur dinner in London, the 2009 Calon Segur is cut from such a different cloth to the 2008, you might presume they are totally different châteaux! What they share in common is that they are both long-term propositions. This is an atypical 2009 in the sense that it remains one of the few that require patience. Sure, it has an opulent and intense bouquet with plenty more glycerine and warmth than the 2008, maintaining fine delineation, but you know there is more to come. The palate is full-bodied, powerful and almost viscous on the entry, bold but structured, especially towards the substantial finish that clams up tightly after 20-30 minutes. Punishment for jumping the gun? Hey, it's up to you, but there are many other Left Bank 2009s that you could enjoy within ten years of age before considering this excellent Saint Estèphe. Tasted March 2015.

Wine Advocate

91 / 100

byNeal Martinthe1/1/2013

Served blind at the Southwold 2009 tasting. Calon-Ségur is an extremely difficult wine to taste in its youth since it is a long-distance runner that does not kowtow to those demanding more immediate wines. The 2009 has a more understated bouquet with broody bilberry and blackberry fruit, sous-bois and graphite emerging with aeration. The palate is smooth and seductive on the entry, exerting a gentle grip and needing a little more vigour and penetration towards the finish that takes its foot off the accelerator. This will improve as there is good substance in the first half. Tasted January 2013.
91+

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

94 / 100

byStephen Tanzerthe7/31/2012

Good dark red. Musky, highly complex nose offers plum, blackcurrant, camphor, menthol, violet and lavender. Remarkably silky and fine-grained, combining outstanding subtle concentration and terrific inner-mouth energy. This very rich but classically dry Saint-Estephe finishes with lush, noble tannins and outstanding complexity. A great vintage for this estate, and a classic claret in a traditional style.

Wine Advocate

94 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe2/29/2012

The 2009 has the highest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (90%) ever included in a Calon-Segur (the rest is Merlot and Petit Verdot). Completely different from its St.-Estephe brethren, it is more backward and structured with a dense purple color, lots of black cherry, black currant, loamy earth, forest floor and spice notes, excruciatingly high levels of tannin, and a wonderful inner core of sweetness and concentration. It could behave like the 1982, which, at age 30, is just becoming mature. The 2009 is an uncompromising, masculine, massive style of wine that needs 15-20 years of cellaring even in this luscious, flashy, flamboyant vintage. It is super-tight and needs lots of coaxing and aeration. Anticipated maturity: 2025-2050+. Sadly, Madame Gasqueton, one of the great grands dames of Bordeaux, passed away recently. She was a no nonsense, always gracious lady who normally received me early in the morning, sometimes before the sun had even risen. I have many fond memories of her for her professionalism and her talent in making long-lived, traditional Bordeaux.(94+ points)

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

93-96 / 100

byIan D'Agatathe6/30/2010

(a blend of 90% cabernet sauvignon, 7% merlot, and 3% petit verdot; 100% new oak) Bright ruby-red. Exhilarating nose awash with fresh blackberry, blackcurrant, mineral, violet and rose aromas. Absolutely seamless on entry, with a beautiful mineral underpinning to the pure red cherry, fresh blackcurrant and blackberry flavors. Long and very pure on the finish, showing extremely polished tannins. This is like an essence of almost weightless yet highly concentrated cabernet sauvignon as only (great) Bordeaux can deliver. The lively but harmonious acids make it seem almost too light and breezy for a wine that will age effortlessly for decades-proof-positive, by the way, that a wine does not have to be analytically monstrous (this '09 has an IPT, or indice de polyphenols totaux of 71) to be long-lived, as long as it's balanced.

Le Figaro

95-98 / 100

byBernard Burtschythe6/30/2010

Madame Gasqueton a donné carte blanche à son directeur technique qui ne s’est pas fait prier : 90 % de cabernet-sauvignon et de beaux fûts neufs pour donner un vin d’anthologie qui se place dans les immenses Calon-Ségur, ceux des 1947 et surtout de 1953 qui lui ressemble beaucoup. La robe est très sombre avec un nez superbe de mûre et de cassis. En bouche, le vin est suave, lisse, rond, d’une superbe longueur et un beau volume. 90 % cabernet-sauvignon, 7 % merlot, 3 % petit-verdot. 100 % fût neuf.

timatkin.com

97 / 100

byTim Atkin MWthe6/30/2010

13.5% alcohol. 90CS, 7M, 3PV The most northerly cru classé in the Médoc has made one of my favourite 2009s. It’s not as big as Montrose, or as in-your-face as Cos, but winemaker Vincent Millet has managed the tannins to perfection here. Elegant, stylish and well balanced, this is a wine that is much more concentrated that it seems as first, holding its power in reserve. 15+ years.

La Revue du Vin de France

18-19 / 20

the5/31/2010

La proportion de cabernet-sauvignon (90%) est historique à Calon-Ségur. "Les merlots affichaient des degrés et une maturité très élevés qui ne s'intégraient pas dans l'ensemble", justifie l'équipe technique du château. Ce 2009 est d'une droiture et d'une précision impressionnantes. Très tramé, frais et doté de magnifiques tanins, c'est l'un des profils les plus classiques du millésime. L'esprit des Calon-Ségur légendaires.

Le Point

18 / 20

byJacques Dupontthe5/6/2010

Fruits noirs mûre, bouche onctueuse, sucrosité des tanins et grande fraîcheur, long, frais, puissant mais fondu, d'une grande élégance. O=2017 G=30 ans

Wein Wisser

19 / 20

byRené Gabrielthe4/30/2010

90 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot. Mit 53 hl/ha war 2009 eine grosse Ernte, und noch nie gab es in der Geschichte von Calon-Ségur so viel Cabernet. Tiefes Purpur mit satter Mitte und Granatschimmer am Rand. Das Bouquet ist deutlich geprägt von tiefem, floralem Cabernet, dazu kommen Trüffelspuren, Rauchnuancen, Baumnüsse und ein Ansatz von Kräutern. Fleischiger, sehr tiefer Gaumen mit dicht gegliederter Textur und gut stützender, verlangender Adstringenz, extrem lang. Ein massiv beladener und dennoch feiner Calon mit eindrucksvollem Alterungspotenzial. Eine Art 1961er-Variante. 2018–2040

TAST

19 / 20

by Bettane & Desseauvethe4/30/2010

Comme à Pontet-Canet, on a ici fait le choix de la pureté, de l’élégance absolue de texture avec un plus grand pourcentage de cabernet-sauvignon qui lui donne un élan merveilleux. Jamais il n’y en a eu autant (90 %) dans l’histoire du cru, jamais depuis cinquante ans il n’a semblé atteindre cette intégrité et ce raffinement. Un des sommets du millésime.

Wine Advocate

91-93 / 100

byNeal Martinthe4/30/2010

Tasted at the château. This has a very strict nose with brambly black fruit, wild hedgerow, a touch of plum and Mirabelle with cold stony aromas developing with further aeration. The palate is medium-bodied, firm tannins, good balance, just a little tough at the moment, briary and blackberry, a very saline finish with moderate length. Very taut, coalescing nicely in the glass, just a little hard on the finish. It will interesting to see whether this softens with age: perhaps a little less oak would have served this redoubtable Calon-Segur better? I will remain prudent with my score for now. Tasted March 2010.

Decanter Magazine

18,5 / 20

bySteven Spurrierthe4/30/2010

Dense, very Cabernet (90%) nose of red/black berry fruits, great freshness, purity and length, a beautifully made, truly aristocratic wine. Drink 2016-30.

Wine Advocate

92-94 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe4/28/2010

Made in a very different style for this estate, the 2009 is composed of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon (the highest I have ever seen here), 7% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot, and achieved 13.8% natural alcohol. It is a big, rich, tannic, structured, dense ruby/purple-tinged wine offering a sweet kiss of creme de cassis, loamy soil, and spice box. Remarkably, despite the use of 100% new oak because of the 2009's power and intensity, there is not a hint of wood in either the aromatic or flavor profile. Never that showy from cask, this traditionally made St.-Estephe should be forgotten for 10-15 years, and drunk over the following 40-50 years. My rating is very conservative, and I expect it to rise considerably as this wine comes out of its infancy. (Tasted two times.) Drink 2020-2070. (92-94+) points

Periodic Review of Wine

94-96 / 100

byAlan Duranthe4/28/2010

A return to the level of the 2003 and 2000. This cabernet sauvignon dominated Calon-Ségur is a remarkable wine. It offers and deep saturated purple color followed by scents of charcoal, crushed-stone, blackberry, spice-mix, and pencil dust. This fascinating, flavourful, full-bodied, dense, and steely 2009 boasts profound fruit, a mineral driven style, and irrestible flavours of blackberry and sweet Asian spices. A typical Calon with its broad mouth-feel and longering nuances. There is no doubt that it will be long-lived by the estate's standards. Madame Gasqueton's leadership stikes gold in this vintage! Maturity period 2016-2052.

Anthony Rose

94-96 / 100

byAnthony Rosethe4/26/2010

According to Vincent Millet, director at the château, 55% of production is grand vin, of which 90% is cabernet sauvignon, 7% merlot and 3% petit verdot. 100% new oak, 13.5% alcohol, 12% press wine. Dense colour, perfumed aromatic quality, appealing, fresh, hint of graphite, lovely nose, very classic, sweetly perfumed fruit, rich and concentrated with a fine dark berry fruits richness and opulence, This is lovely succulent fruit, delicious by anyone's standards, with finesse and texture and traditional / classic/ terroir quality to it. As good as a 3rd growth gets? It has the tannic structure of the vintage, the backbone, but also the concentration and richness and the ripeness and purity of great fresh cabernet. Very cabernet, very pure. 94-96+

Wine Spectator

93-96 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe4/9/2010

Delivers gorgeous aromas of blackberry, blueberry and licorice, with hints of tobacco and spice. Full-bodied, offering a lovely texture and refinement. Very long and beautiful, with tangy acidity and lively fruit. A rich, yet very balanced, Calon. This is almost all Cabernet Sauvignon instead of the normal blend with 40 percent Merlot. The château is now using 100 percent new wood. Like the changes.

Jancis Robinson

18 / 20

byJancis Robinsonthe4/7/2010

Dark crimson. Wonderful electric vitality on the nose. Great vibrancy. Great integrity in the same way as Pontet-Canet is seamless right through the palate – great line. Pure and dense and polished. Really vibrant. Lovely minerality on the finish. Complete. Drink 2018-2030