Ch. Phelan Segur
Grand Vin
Saint-Estephe
2009

The producer

Located in the northern end of the commune, close to the Gironde River and directly east of the Saint-Estephe village, the Phelan Segur estate neighbours the Chateaux Calon Segur and Montrose. 70 hectares of vineyards are planted to 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, and a soupcon of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.

The estate was founded by Irishman Bernard O’Phelan, who combined the vineyards ‘Clos de Garramey’ and ‘’Segur’ and, in the early 20^th century, renamed the estate ‘Phelan Segur’. Bernard’s son, Frank Phelan, built the chateau in the late 1860s. Fast forward to 2018, when Belgian investor, Philippe Van de Vyvere (owner of Sea-Invest) acquired the estate.  

Phelan Segur has ‘Cru Bourgeois’ status, which is a small classification used for chateaux which were not included in the 1855 classification but to acknowledge exceptional stewardship of land and consistently high quality of wine produced. Around 20,000 cases of wine are produced annually, and Phelan Segur is known for its softness and perfume, and for being long lived yet very enjoyable young.

This is very good Bordeaux at an agreeable price.

The wine

Fruit for Phelan Segur is sourced from four vineyard blocks, on average 38 years old, but with some vines as old as 70 years. The blend varies with vintage conditions, but usually comprises up to 60% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks and is followed by malolactic fermentation, 50% of which is in new French oak barrels. Finally, the wine ages for 16 months in 50% new oak barrels, from five different coopers.

Phelan Segur is known for its consistency, softness, and perfume, and for being long lived yet very enjoyable young. This is very good Bordeaux at an agreeable price.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.