This wine has so many of the structural elements of a Saint-Estèphe, but also is enveloped by ripe fruitiness. Black in color and dense in character, it has sweetness from the plum juice fruits and great acidity. But it is also firm, powerfully projecting a serious potential. Drink from 2022.

(93+) The 2011 Château Calon-Ségur is one of the most beautiful wines to be found in all of Bordeaux in this vintage and clearly one of the superstars on the Left Bank this year. As Calon- Ségur is the most northerly of estates in Ste. Estèphe, they were spared from the brunt of the hail and were able to harvest as the grapes demanded this year. Vincent Millet and his team started bringing in their merlot on September 5th, the younger vine cabernet sauvignon on the 12th and waited until the 18th of the month to start bringing in the fruit from the old cabernet vines on the estate. Additionally, most of the merlot was relegated to the second wine in 2011, so that the blend for the grand vin is sixty-eight percent cabernet sauvignon, twenty percent merlot, twelve percent cabernet franc and one percent malbec. The result is a stunningly refined and silky example of the vintage that delivers a degree of early elegance that is not found anywhere else in Bordeaux this year! The deep, very complex and beautifully pure nose offers up a sappy blend of red and black cherries, cigar wrapper, espresso, dark soil tones, woodsmoke, a touch of currant leaf and a deft framing of smoky new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very pure and suave on the attack, with a superb core of fruit, soft acids and a very long, moderately tannic and beautifully focused finish. This is one of the most stunning young vintages of Calon- Ségur that I have ever tasted and one 2011 that is not to be missed! (Drink between 2022-2065)

A blend 78% Cabernet Sauvignon 20% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot and this includes the vin de presse. It has a refined bouquet of dark berries wild hedgerow and a touch of rose petals and seems lighter than the 2009 or 2010 although it displays fine delineation and sense of femininity. The palate is medium-bodied with a pleasing rounded entry where the Merlot neatly fleshes out the Cabernet. It is not a complex Calon Segur neither does it possess the spine-tingling backbone and tension of the 2010. But is has a satisfying purity and a lovely smooth silky texture towards the finish and a minerally aftertaste that lingers longer than I expected. This may merit a higher score after bottling. Tasted April 2012.

The 2011 Calon-Ségur has a light, tertiary bouquet, quite tight at first, hints of dried blood coming through with time, a little toasty in style. This gains complexity and is quite appealing. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, fine grain tannins, a keen line of acidity with one of the more refined finished in its peer group. This is well-crafted and certainly à point. Very fine. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting. -- Neal Martin

Rather lush, with fig, boysenberry and black currant pâte de fruit notes at the fore, backed by singed spice, apple wood and charcoal details that lend balance. More flattering than austere in terms of style, with the fruit lingering in the end. Much more fresh and pure than the slightly funky and disappointing '10. Best from 2015 through 2024. – JM