CHÂTEAU PHÉLAN SÉGUR

95-97 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

Aged in 55% new oak, it has an enticingly pure bouquet with blackberry & bilberry fruit, blackcurrant, iris flower & light iodine scents. Very intense & focussed. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins, a liberal sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper laced over the black fruit. A quintessentially Saint-Estèphe with a structured & very persistent finish. Allowing the wine to open in the glass it reveals impressive depth (more so than the 2019 & 2020) and precision. This will require several years in bottle, but it will certainly be worth the wait.

This is a definite star in the appellation, a former Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, and in my mind would make it into a new version of the 1855 classification if one ever came around. You can expect huge consistency - always a mark of a great estate - and plenty of character: finessed tannins... excellent ageing ability & a raft of complex flavours.

Philippe Van de Vyvere, a Belgian who made his fortune in shipping bought Phélan Ségur in 2017, instigating a immediate focus on sustainability and precision viticulture, which uses GPS and drones to micro manage plots of vines which average 35 years old. A 4.5ha walled plot around the château is farmed entirely organically.

There are strong nods to the Irish heritage of this property, which was created by Bernard O’Phelan, who left Tipperary at the end of the 18th Century.

For the second year in a row I was blown away by this inexpensive Saint-Estèphe awarding it 94-96+ points noting its “incredible kaleidoscope of crushed briar fruits, peony, wild mint, cedar & Szechuan pepper. Gorgeously ripe and velvety smooth on the palate, the finish is very long lived: super”. This is absolutely one of the gems of the 2022 vintage and one not to miss!