Chateau Rauzan-Segla 2011

Professional Ratings

• 95 Decanter
  The second bottle opened shows clear depth and punch to the fruit - one of the best in the lineup. It sings with liquorice, slate, pencil lead, grilled bacon and slick black fruits. It may still be extremely young but it's starting to unfurl, revealing a floral note on the finish that beckons you to it. Rauzan Ségla tends to do extremely well in vintages like 2001, and now 2011, where the grace and elegance of the wine can be given full expression. 70% new oak.
• 94 Wine Enthusiast
  This is typical of the ripe and opulent style of this property with superripe black currant fruit. It's concentrated in flavor, but also structured with smooth tannins. It's a wine both for short-term fruitiness and long-term power and density. Drink from 2017. Cellar Selection
• 93 James Suckling
  A wine with a beautiful aromas and flavors of dark fruits, minerals and dried flowers. Full body, integrated tannins and a fresh finish. A little chewy but will soften with age. Better in 2017.
• 93 Jeb Dunnuck
  The 2011 Rauzan-Ségla is more red-fruited and spice-driven, with complex tobacco, dried earth, flowers, and cedar notes in the background. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and elegant on the palate, it has the firm edge to its tannins that’s common in the vintage, yet it has more than enough sweet fruit as well as impressive mid-palate depth and a great finish. A blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot, it’s another rich yet elegant wine from this estate that will continue offering ample pleasure for another two decades or more.
• 92 Wine Spectator
  Lush and frankly ripe, with alluring plum sauce, fig paste and currant confiture flavors, layered with dark cocoa and black tea notes. The long, velvety finish has some serious latent grip. An impressive effort for the vintage. Best from 2017 through 2028.
• 92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  Deep garnet colored, the 2011 Rauzan-Ségla displays a series of earthy notes to begin—truffles, moss-covered bark, fungi and tilled soil—over a core of redcurrant jelly, blackberry pie and mincemeat with hints of sandalwood, new leather and fallen leaves. Medium-bodied with a firm line of chewy, slightly rustic tannins, it has a great core of earth-laced black fruits with provocative freshness and a long mineral-tinged finish. The blend this year is 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot, harvested between September 8th and 28th, at an average yield of 28 hectoliters per hectare. It was aged for 18 months in French oak, 70% new. The alcohol is 13.5%.