Château Phelan Segur Saint-Estèphe 2022 i trækasse

Tastingbook.com

Terre de Vins

Christer Byklum

Bettane et Desseauve

Markus del Monego MW

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

Decanter

A delicious and well-constructed wine from the Phélan team in 2022. Polished, balanced and just so drinkable. A gorgeous texture straight away, clean and clear, juicy, vibrant and grippy with a chalky, flint and graphite element to the fine tannins. You really feel they've taken the best the vintage had to offer with precise definition to all the elements; ripe bramble and cherry fruit, high acidity with a wonderful spiced and mineral signature from the St-Estephe terroir. A combination of power and charm that builds in structure and intensity while keeping a mouthwatering energy from start to finish. A top buy - and could be upscored in bottle! Tasted three times. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 3.8pH. 96IPT. Harvest took 13 days in total, from 14 - 26 September whereas the last three years picking has started on the 24th September. A yield of 28hl/ha. The team have also been working for the past few years on different yeasts for fermentation in order to get more precision and a stronger link to the vineyards. 50% of production in 2022 was vinified using natural yeasts - five strains taken from five plots and used to vinify grapes from each of their respective parcels.

Bettane & Desseauve

Vert de Vin Magazine

The nose is pretty and fresh, elegantly ethereal and delicate. There are notes of pulpy/juicy raspberry, violet and slight notes of juicy/ripe strawberry associated with touches of concentrated blackcurrant as well as fine hints of spices, nutmeg, with a discreet note of cloves and pepper. . The palate is mineral, precise and offers freshness, accuracy, tension, delicacy, a discreetly tight grain as well as a nice definition. The tasting is done in harmony with an assertive but airy structure. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of pulpy/juicy blackcurrant, juicy/pulpy cherry and slight notes of violet associated with touches of small roasted red berries, hints of tonka bean (see cocoa) as well as a fine hint of clove, sap, with a subtle hint of blueberry and liquorice. Good length.

Falstaff

Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate edge lightening. Fresh heart cherries, fine nuances of cassis and liquorice, some nougat and precious wood. Complex, full-bodied, ripe berry fruit, freshly structured, fine supporting tannins, mineral and persistent, an elegant, harmonious wine with potential and length, convincing.

Andrew Caillard MW

Deep crimson. Very attractive dark chocolate, dark plum aromas with cedar/ chinotto notes. Richly concentrated with dark berry bittersweet flavours, plentiful chocolaty firm tannins, lovely mid-palate generosity, underlying vanilla, spice notes and superb mineral length. finishes with a graphite plume. 56% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot 55% new oak. 14.2 % alc

VV Wine

Dense ruby, almost black at the core. The nose shows a lot of dark fruit, cassis, blackberries, clear and pure, intense and yet not exuberant, fine spicy notes, floral tones, extremely profound and cool in character. The palate is full, dense, on the one hand very concentrated, on the other hand equipped with a lot of elegance and freshness, there is a crisp fruit, these are sensational tannins, the mass of tannins is impressive, the fruit has a firm grip, it never gets overflowing, the wine has class and shows an excellent length in the finish with a saline and red fruity finish. This is a powerful yet elegant Phélan-Ségur, built to last a little longer. Excellent and possibly the best Phélan Ségur I've tasted to date.

The Wine Independent

The 2022 Phelan Segur is made from 56% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, with a yield of 28 hl/ha. Deep garnet-purple in color, it charges out with rambunctious notes of kirsch, black cherries, boysenberry preserves, and garrigue, followed by suggestions of lilacs, Sichuan pepper, and cinnamon stick. The medium to full-bodied palate is laden with juicy black fruit and red berry sparks, supported by firm, grainy tannins and wonderful freshness, leading to a long and spicy finish on this very pretty wine. pH 3.8, TPI 96.

Vinous

The 2022 Phélan Ségur was picked between 14 and 26 September, 9 out of 13 days with one plot immediately after another, using selected indigenous yeasts for around half the production. It was cropped at 28hL/ha with 14.2% alcohol at the moment, the pH is 3.8. This year contains higher Merlot (56%) due to its higher yield than Cabernet (frost and berry size). On June 20 at 8.15pm, three blocks were hit by hail that was horizontal accompanied by 25mm of rain within 10 minutes. This cost them 30% production overall. "We did less extraction at the end of the alcoholic fermentation and stopped the pumping over two days earlier at 1.010 [which without getting too technical is the Gravity of one liter of must relative to one liter of distilled water] and did more like an infusion." Aged in 55% new oak, it has an enticingly pure bouquet with blackberry and bilberry fruit, blackcurrant, iris flower and light iodine scents. Very intense and focused. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins, a liberal sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper laced over the black fruit. A quintessentially Saint-Estèphe with a structured and very persistent finish. Allowing the wine to open in the glass, it reveals impressive depth (more so than the 2019 and 2020) and precision. This will require several years in bottle, but it will certainly be worth the wait.

La Revue du Vin de France

Alexandre Ma

Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider

Deep in color, the wine is smoky, with chocolate covered plums, black raspberries, spices, violets, and cinnamon coming through in the nose. The wine is rich, lush and polished. The fruits are dark, ripe, sweet, and fresh, leaving you with a finish packed with powdered chocolate, black cherries, turmeric, black currants, plums, licorice, and espresso. This should be quite enjoyable on release. The wine blends 56% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. 14.2% ABV, 3.8 pH. Harvesting took place September 14, - September 26. Yields were only 28 hectoliters per hectare. 2025-2045.

Jeb Dunnuck

I was lucky enough to be able to taste the 2022 Château Phélan Ségur on multiple occasions, and it always impressed, offering a deep purple hue as well as a ripe, powerful bouquet of darker currant and cassis-like fruits interwoven with leafy herbs, tobacco, and chocolate. A ripe, full-bodied, opulent wine, it has beautiful tannins, a layered, concentrated mouthfeel, and a great finish. It’s going to be as good, if not better, than the 2018 and 2019, and I continue to love what director Véronique Dausse accomplishes at this address.

James Suckling

Loads of fruit here. Energetic, with layers of tannins. Full-bodied. It builds at the end and opens like a butterfly. Hints of minerals and iron. Best ever? 56% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon, 2% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot.

The Drinks Business

Not perhaps the easiest place to grow grapes in 2022, but you’d have no idea when you taste this fabulous wine. It sings Phélan Ségur, with that lovely gentle wild spring florality reinforced subtly by the oak and with a gorgeous, very harmonious yet complex combination of red and darker berry fruits – a little damson too, mulberries as well. Just a touch of graphite. There’s also a very elegant and classy cassis leafiness with aeration in the mouth. The tannins are extremely polished and refined, the mid-palate sumptuous with great fruit intensity and the finish seems to refocus the wine around the crushed plump juicy raspberry notes. Fabulous. The last wine tasted at the UGC press marathon and a brilliant conclusion. This has an incredibly high IPT but it’s almost imperceptible. Staggering wine-making. 94-96.