2020 Phelan Segur
Buying options
Tasting Notes
This offers aromas of dark plum, cassis, as well as some more delicate floral notes, yet overarchingly it’s dark and savoury in style – with an earthiness and iron richness. There’s a ripeness and smoothness to the firm tannins from the warmth of the vintage, yet a refreshing leathery, savoury, saline twist to the palate. There’s plenty of acidity and the alcohol doesn’t stand out at all in amongst the concentrated fruit. There’s a crunch of redcurrant fruit on the finish to complement the otherwise more bramble profile.
Critic Scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
The austerity to the tannins works in this wine's favour giving a juicy grip to the concentrated blackcurrant and bilberry fruits without strangling them. Excellent stuff, finishing up with liquorice and smoked coffee bean. This is an estate that has just powered to better and better wines over the past few years. Yields were 10% below the average of the past five years but still at 40hl/ha. Harvest September 16 through to October 1, finishing around 10 days earlier than the past two years. Consultants Michel Rolland and Julien Viaud. First vintage with Petit Verdot included in the main wine (2%), from vines planted in 2013. Tasted twice.
The 2020 Phélan Ségur has a very intense and almost Pauillac-like nose of blackberry, pencil box and cedar aromas, complex and mineral-driven. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins and plenty of black fruit laced with cedar and tobacco, quite sturdy and conveying more substance than recent vintages. This impressive Saint-Estèphe has great potential and might well represent the appellation's best value for money.
The 2020 Phélan Ségur is sophisticated, classy and polished. There is perhaps a bit less size than has become the norm of late, but that is not a bad thing at all. Sweet floral, spice, cedar and tobacco lend brightness to this mid-weight, beautifully persistent Saint-Estèphe. I especially admire the wine's aromatic presence and persistence. Tasted two times.
