2016 Calon Ségur, St-Estèphe

Restrained flesh, a vertical-rise through the palate, fairly old school Calon in feel, beautifully fragrant floral aromatics, plenty of brambled deep fruits, liquorice, crayon, leather, this is lovely wine, appellation character but feels very much lush, classy, impressive. Give it a long carafe, 100% new oak for ageing.

A monumental wine in the making, the 2016 Château Calon-Ségur is blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot that spent a full 20 months in all new French oak. It offers an incredibly powerful, concentrated, classic style in its crème de cassis, graphite, scorched earth, tobacco, and lead pencil aromas and flavors. These give way to an inky, full-bodied 2016 that has perfectly integrated acidity and tannins, subtle background oak, thrilling depth and purity of fruit, and a great, great finish. My money is on it being the greatest wine ever made at this address. Although it shines even today on its purity and balance, it needs 5-7 years of bottle age to hit prime time and will keep for three to four decades.