2024 Chateau Calon Segur 3eme Cru Classe, Saint-Estephe

A fruity wine that’s approachable but still serious and complex, with cocoa, currants, paprika and berries. Medium- to full-bodied. The tannins are taut, chalky, caressing and superbly knit with the fruit. Really juicy and long, and there aren't any hard edges. 82% cabernet sauvignon, 9% merlot, 8% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot.

The 2024 Calon-Ségur is a terrific effort. A blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon (picked late, between October 2 and October 9), 9% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, it unwinds in the glass with notes of plums, cassis and iris mingled with hints of burning embers and incense. Medium to full-bodied, supple and layered, it's suave and seamless, with good depth at the core, powdery tannins and beautifully integrated acids. At pH 3.50 and 13.1% alcohol, it's also one of the most classically proportioned vintages this estate has produced over the last decade.

The 2024 Calon Ségur is shaping up very nicely. Dark and ample, with terrific balance, the 2024 is another strong wine from the team led by Technical Director Vincent Millet. Readers will find a Calon Ségur of inner strength, its deceptively mid-weight structure notwithstanding. The 2024 is a wine of restraint and class more than power, never a bad thing at this property. The 100% new oak is very nicely balanced, even in the early going. This has great potential.

As to the Grand Vin, the 2024 Château Calon Ségur checks in as 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot, hitting 13.1% alcohol and a pH of 3.6, all resting in 100% new oak. It brings more richness and depth, with beautiful cassis fruit intermixed with spring flowers, violets, lead pencil, and a terrific sense of minerality. Medium-bodied, beautifully balanced, and reasonably concentrated, it's all about finesse, elegance, and balance. It's a brilliant wine in the vintage.

Quite floral in its nature, the wine quickly reveals its core of cherries and currants in the aromatic profile. Juicy, fresh, and energetic, the wine is medium-bodied, with a bright center of sweet, vibrant, red fruits and black currants on the mid-palate, leading to a mint-accented, soft, lifted finish. The wine blends 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. 13.1% ABV, 3.6 pH. Yields were 45 hectoliters per hectare. The harvest took place September 23 – October 9. You only need to give it 2 years or so of patience, and it will be a beauty to drink for at least 2 decades with ease. Drink from 2029-2055.

Super ripe concentrated aromas on the nose. Plums, cassis, cherries with vanilla and some cinnamon as well as floral scents. Sleek and straight, the signature chalkiness straight away with bright, almost high-toned cranberry fruit. It’s not so wide or broad but really well defined and tapers with liquorice and cola accents on the finish. Feels well made, great tannin finesse, some chewy fruit and a feeling of coolness. 3.60pH. A yield of 45hl/ha. 100% new oak.

Beautiful red ruby expression. A slimmer more finessed expression of Calon than in recent years, that gives it less estate signature than some, but this has beautiful cassis bud, rose petals, peony, iris, cocoa bean and graphite. Subtle but with real charm. 3.60 pH. 45 hl/ha. 100% new oak. Vincent Millet director, Harvest 23 September to 9 October.

The 2024 Calon Ségur was picked from September 23 until October 9 at 45 hl/ha with no breaks between those dates. It then matured in 100% new oak, as usual, for 20 months. This has a well-defined bouquet, with more prominent wood than previous recent vintages, which consequently obscures the property's DNA. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid black fruit tinged with black olive. It's quite lively, with a liberal sprinkling of white pepper and thyme. I admire the freshness of this Saint-Estèphe and there is decent length on the finish. This is not a top-ranking Calon-Ségur, but it should still provide up to 20 years of drinking pleasure.

82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. 45 hl/ha. Cask sample. Open nose with Cabernet-cassis notes and minty freshness. Quite sapid on the palate, the acidity present. Firmly structured but the oak a touch invasive at present. Needs to settle. (JL)