Rauzan Ségla 2019

This is just the most delicious Rauzan Ségla, so much depth, carefully placed black cherry, damson and blueberry fruits, juicy even though still so young. A vintage that has plenty of tannic architecture, softened by cocoa bean, liqourice and rosebud, love it. 42hl/h yield, 60% new oak, 3.73ph. Harvest 12th September to October 9th. Nicolas Audbert director, Eric Boissenot consultant. An upscore since I last tasted this wine.

62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35.5% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 0.5% Cabernet Franc. Dark crimson. Much purpler than Rauzan-Gassies. Complex and round with many a layer and real drive. First-growth concentration and complexity. A real star. Brooding, in the most impressive way. Very long and exciting. 14.2% Drink 2028 – 2050

The Grand Vin 2019 Château Rauzan-Ségla is beautiful, and it seems this estate can do no wrong since 2015. A more elegant, ethereal, complex Margaux, it has a perfumed and complex style in its red, blue, and black fruits as well as notes of white flowers, chalky minerality, and exotic spices. Haute couture at its finest and seamless, medium to full-bodied, perfectly balanced, and just stunning any way you look at it, it already offers pleasure today yet will easily have 30 years of prime drinking.

62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35.5 % Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 0.5% Cabernet Franc. Barrel sample.Margaux finesse at the top table. Poised and fragrant with vineyard-fresh dark fruit and cassis aromas. Exquisite palate, juicy but seamless, the fine tannins and perfectly pitched fruit in absolute harmony. Silky texture. Long, clean, digeste finish. (JL)Drink 2027 – 2045

Composed of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35.5% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, and 0.5% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Rauzan-Segla is deep garnet-purple colored. It is a little closed and broody to begin, soon fanning out to offer up notes of kirsch, black cherry preserves, and warm cassis, plus touches of smoked meats, wild blueberries, violets, and cedar chest, along with a hint of charcoal. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is very tightly wound with loads of earthy accents among the densely laden fruit and fine-grained tannins, finishing long and savory.

Opens with a curl of gourmet smoked caramel, this is well made and well delivered, architectural, clear oak influence but not overly sweet. Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant fruits, with black cherry and cassis, and a fragrant iris flower finish. Harvest 12th September to October 9th. 42hl/ha yield, 60% new French oak.

The black fruits burrow downwards through the palate at first, keeping things pretty closed, everything holding its breath, before the fruit opens. There is the precision of Rauzan Ségla that is reminiscent of the 2016, less of the immediate voluptuous impact of 2018 but the density becomes extremely clear in the glass. A serious Rauzan, cassis and cedar, still with a rinse of iris flowers to give it the Margaux touch. 3.73pH. 50/50 1st and 2nd wine. A yield of 42l/ha. Drinking Window 2028 - 2044.