The 2018 Château Calon-Ségur is a standout wine that reflects the winery's evolving style and exceptional quality. Deep garnet-purple in color, it offers an enticing nose of baked cherries, cassis, licorice, and smoked meats, with nuanced aromas of hoisin, camphor, and Chinese five spice. The Cabernet Franc contributes an energetic lift, bringing freshness to the full-bodied, concentrated fruit and spicy layers on the palate. With a firm backbone of tannins and a refreshing finish, this wine shows remarkable balance and aging potential.

The Wine Advocate | RP 96-98
Published: Apr 24, 2019

The 2018 Calon-Segur is blended of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot (14.9% alcohol). It is anticipated to age for 20 months in barriques, 100% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs just a little coaxing before it reveals seductive notes of baked cherries, warm cassis, licorice and smoked meats with nuances of hoisin, camphor, Chinese five spice and dried roses with a waft of cardamom. Full-bodied and completely packed with concentrated black fruit and spice layers, it has a firm frame of grainy tannins and a wicked backbone of freshness giving an energetic lift to the very long finish. There's lots of brightness coming from the Cabernet Franc component in here, but it is nonetheless a decadent expression. 

2018 was complicated to vinify because of the potentially high alcohols,” Laurent Dufau, Managing Director of Calon-Ségur and Capbern informed me. “Also, you had to be very gentle with extraction. You had to be soft, so as not to extract too much. The alcohol percentage of the Merlot was concerning—some came in at 16% potential alcohol! And the Cabernet Franc this year was amazing on this terroir.” Merlot was picked from September 19 to 25. The Cabernets came in September 26 to October 5. Petit Verdot came in on October 8th. Yields were pretty good here on average in 2018: 41 hectoliters per hectare.

This year marks the final stages/completion of years of vineyard restructuring, new aging cellars and a gravity-fed vat room at Château Calon-Ségur. Most notably, they have been increasing vine density and slowly working on bringing more Cabernet Sauvignon rather than Merlot on line, as was the blend traditionally. No doubt about it, quality at Calon-Ségur has been on an upward trajectory in recent years!

Jamessuckling.com | JS 97
Published: Mar 3, 2021

Aromas of redcurrants and plums with blueberries and black licorice, following through to a full body that?s so refined and polished, the tannins integrated wonderfully into the fruit. Fresh, linear and persistent. Real clarity and purity to this. Try after 2025. 

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 17.5
Published: Jan 20, 2022
Drink: 2030-2050

Tasted blind. Bluer than some of its peers. Rich but open nose. Thick and sweet with the sweetness almost distracting from the tannin. Dramatic. Just very slightly chewy tannins.

Calon-segur.fr

The Grand Vin of Calon Ségur mirrors its terroir. It is rare, authentic and stirs the soul. In the most natural way, it reveals both great delicacy and outstanding intensity. All the magic of Calon is in this balance. The wine is aged in new oak barrels for 20 months, the tannins of the oak integrating harmoniously over time with the tannins of the grapes. The style is brought by a Cabernet Sauvignon which expresses its finesse without arrogance. Elegance is to be found everywhere, in the purity of the wine’s flavours, in the delicacy of its texture, while its depth and length are also superb. The wine’s extraordinary ability to age many years in bottle is another feature of the estate. The 1947, 1953 and 1982 vintages, by way of example, still display astonishing signs of youth.

APPELLATION
Saint-Estèphe.
Third classified Growth in 1855.

CONSULTANT ŒNOLOGIST
Éric Boissenot.

SOIL
A thick layer of gravel laid down during the Quaternary Period. Predominantly clay
sub-soil from the Tertiary Period. At the summit of the gravel deposits, there is also
a fine layer of clay of lacustrine origin.

VINEYARD AREA
55 ha (136 acres).

AREA IN PRODUCTION
45 ha (50 ha planted).

GRAPE VARIETIES
57% Cabernet sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 7% Cabernet franc, 2% petit Verdot.

AVERAGE AGE OF THE VINES
20 years.

TRAINING METHOD
Double Guyot.

PLANTING DENSITY
8,000 vines/ha.

HARVEST
Hand picking. A first selection of grapes on the vine. Mechanical sorting of the grapes by vibration, followed by hand sorting.

VINIFICATION
Temperature-controlled tronconical stainless-steel tanks. Vatting period for 18 to 21 days. Microbubbling. Co-inoculation, exogenous yeast and bacterias, in stainless steel tank at 25°C.

AGEING
20 months, 100% new barrels. Fining with egg white.