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.

Blood orange freshness with cigar box elegance, this is at once round and refined. One of the top wines of the Médoc. And while it’s close to 14.5% alcohol, there’s no heaviness or hot, jammy notes. For the price, it would be foolish not to purchase.

The 2019 Château Phelan Segur from Véronique Dausse is another brilliant Saint-Estèphe in the vintage, and this estate plays in the top handful of Saint-Estèphes 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.

Some guests preferred the 2019 Phélan-Ségur 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. -- Neal Martin

(WE 93–95 points) Now cured of its tendency to use too much wood, this estate is producing some finely structured wines. This vintage continues in that tradition, a wine that is packed with serious, concentrated fruits that are highlighted by bright acidity. There is great potential for aging here. - ROGER VOSS

A ton of complexity is immediately apparent from the first time you wave your nose over the glass, from layers of black fruits to freshly grated nutmeg. On the palate, we are almost in Christmas cake territory, with plump juicy fruits, spiced liquorice, black pepper and plenty of concentration. This is a brilliant wine, confident tannins, well delivered, will be ready to drink in four or five years, but will age for decades. Michel Rolland consultant. 56% new oak, 3.8ph, lives up to En Primeur expectations.

Flowers, smoke, black fruit, red fruit, and blue fruit along with cedar and spice work well here. The wine has a solid depth of flavor packed with dark currants, polished, round textures, and a blast of chocolate-coated currants with mint and espresso in the rich finish. This could be the best vintage of Phelan Segur yet. Give it a few years in the cellar and it will be just great for 15 or more years after that. Drink from 2025-2042.

(94+ points) Is this the most over-performing estate in the Médoc? Director Véronique 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 Phélan Ségur 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. - William Kelley

Solid, featuring a good punch of dark blackberry and black currant preserve flavors, with bay leaf, charcoal and warm paving stone notes that keep it very grounded through the finish. Shows ample structure for the cellar, too. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2024 through 2038. — J.M.