Château Phélan Ségur
The Château Phélan Ségur is one of the famous Bordeaux wineries . It is in the Saint-Estèphe appellation and is classified as a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel. The vineyards are in the immediate vicinity of the areas of Château Montrose and Château Calon-Ségur .
Location and winemaking
Of the 180 hectares of land, 89 hectares are used for vineyards . 64 hectares are assigned to the Saint-Estèphe appellation with the best terroir . Only red wine is produced . Cabernet Sauvignon predominates with 50 percent and Merlot with 46 percent . The remaining 4 percent is accounted for by the Cabernet Franc . The average age of the vines is 30 years. The planting density is a high 8,600 vines per hectare.
Winemaking follows the classical school of Bordeaux with three - to four weeks mash fermentation in concrete and stainless steel tanks, malolactic fermentation and then a 16 to 18-month aging in oak barrels , to be replaced about 50 percent each year. Already in its youth the wine is characterized by great balance, but develops in the cellar over at least eight years. Due to its quality, it is generally equated with the Grands Crus Classés . A total of around 380,000 bottles of wine are produced annually. 240,000 of these bottles are assigned to the so-called Grand Vin. The remaining 140,000 will be marketed as a second wine under the name Frank Phélan.
history
The independent history of Phélan Ségur begins in 1810. By merging two properties, the Clos de Garramey and the Château Ségur , the Irish-born Frank Phélan founded today's winery. Both properties previously belonged to the famous Marquis de Ségur, who had had difficulties keeping his possessions, including Château Lafite and Château Latour , since the French Revolution .
Frank Phélan had a huge building built in which residence, administration, winemaking and wine storage are combined.
In 1924 the Delon family bought the winery, which already owned the famous Château Léoville-las-Cases . In the first edition of the Cru Bourgeois classification in 1932, the estate was given the rank of Cru Grand Bourgeois Exceptionnel.
In 1985 the Delon family sold the estate to the former owners of the Pommery and Lanson champagne brands, Xavier Gardinier and his three sons. However, the first few years were a business fiasco. The entire 1983 vintage had to be withdrawn from the market because herbicide contamination had become known. This recall campaign also had a major impact on the 1984 and 1985 vintages, which could also not be marketed under the name Phélan Ségur.
Since Gardinier was not deterred and invested a lot in the infrastructure, the wine has been shining again since the 1986 vintage. This was officially confirmed when Château Phélan Ségur was once again given the status of Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel in 2003 as one of 9 estates.
The current manager of the estate is Thierry Gardinier.
Web links
- Official website
- Presentation of the winery on The Winecellar Insider