Chateau Phelan Segur 2016

Professional Ratings

• 95 James Suckling
  A very serious St.-Estèphe with excellent concentration, firm tannins and a dark soul. I love the earth, walnut, bark and smoke aromas that pour out of this. Very long, dramatic, dry finish. Better from 2021.
• 94 Decanter
  Wow, this is silky-smooth and incredibly accomplished, straying very close to being sensational. Is this their best ever wine? Cassis, damson and dark chocolate flavours are joined by brushed tannins and great lift. It's so soft that it feels almost ready to be decanted and drunk, but the tannins are perceptive and I imagine this will close down for a few years soon. Try drinking in eight to ten years when it's fully ready.
• 94 Jeb Dunnuck
  Showing beautifully on multiple occasions, the 2016 Château Phélan Ségur is incredibly impressive and reveals a saturated purple as well as pure cassis, violets, damp earth, lead pencil, and spice-driven aromas and flavors. Beautifully layered and textured, concentrated, with fine tannins and the purity and elegance that make the vintage so compelling front and center, it’s a high-class Saint Estèphe to enjoy over the coming 20-25 years or more.
• 93 Wine Spectator
  This is a touch old-school, with bay and tobacco notes out front followed by alder, warm earth and steeped black currant flavors. The grippy finish lets the fruit and earth notes wrestle a bit, leaving a chewy feel. Will settle with cellaring, but this is not for fans of finesse. Best from 2022 through 2035.
• 93 Wine Enthusiast
  There is a much better balance between fruit and the wood aging in this vintage from this estate than in the past. This wine offers richness and structure from fruit tannin. Dark fruits give the wine rich intensity. Drink from 2025.
• 92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Phélan Ségur gives elegant red and black currants, kirsch and black berries with violets and chocolate box scents plus a waft of cigars. The palate is medium-bodied, elegant, fine grained and fresh with great vibrancy and mineral notes on the finish.
• 90 Connoisseurs' Guide

  Château Phelan Ségur has come up with a medium-bodied wine in 2016 that shows a little more fruity charm than its provenance classically predicts, and, here again, the role of Merlot is hard to miss. It teases with elements of cedar and cigar on the nose and is almost pliant on the palate when compared to traditional St. Estèphes, and it boasts plenty of fresh and fairly vibrant young fruit from beginning to end.