Tasting Notes
Antonio Galloni 93+
The 2019 Phelan Segur is a rich, heady wine. A burst of super-ripe dark fruit, grilled herbs, menthol, licorice, smoke, incense and spice races across the palate. As good as the 2019 is, I liked it more en primeur. I find the bottled wine not quite as expressive, especially on the mid palate. Tasted two times.
Anticipated maturity: 2025-2039
Neal Martin 95
Some guests preferred the 2019 Phelan-Segur over the 2015 La Conseillante on this night. I can understand because it’s a brilliant wine. It brims with ripe blackberry and bilberry on the nose, displaying the marine influence noted in previous bottles. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins, quite weighty and intense, offering immense persistency as it lacquers that mouth on the finish. I’ve tasted several bottles, and this wine is never disappointing.
Anticipated maturity: 2025-2045
Wine Advocate 94
Is this the most over-performing estate in the Medoc? Director Veronique Dausse would surely riposte that it’s simply performing at the level to which its well-situated vineyards and detail-oriented team entitle it; but in any case, the 2019 Phelan Segur is a brilliant wine. Offering up aromas of cassis, sweet wild berries, rose petals, violets, licorice and spices, it’s medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with tangy acids, powdery tannins and a long, penetrating finish. This is another 2019 that en primeur purchasers can feel very pleased with.
Anticipated maturity: 2027-2055
JancisRobinson.com 16.5+
Tasted blind. Some evolution at the rim. Scented. Then pretty tough on the palate. The opposite of gentle. Stony, yes. Perhaps just a bit too austere? More fruit, please! (JR)
Anticipated maturity: 2029-2042
James Suckling 96
This is a very classically structured Bordeaux with blackcurrant, walnut, cedar and hints of toasted oak. It s reserved now, but shows very serious, polished tannins. Persistent and powerful with fantastic length. Very precise. Try after 2025.
Jeb Dunnuck 95
The 2019 Chateau Phelan Segur from Veronique Dausse is another brilliant Saint-Estephe in the vintage, and this estate plays in the top handful of Saint-Estephes out there. Offering lots of darker currants, spiced plums, Iron, tobacco, and damp earth on the nose, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a concentrated, tannic, yet balanced mouthfeel, and a great finish. It needs to be forgotten for a good 5-7 years and will be a brilliant wine over the following two decades.
Anticipated maturity: 2027-2049
