Winemaker Notes
Located in the village of Saint-Estèphe, Château Phélan Ségur has proudly overlooked the Gironde estuary since the early 19th century. Founded by Irishman, Bernard Phelan, the estate was developed by his son, Frank, and renamed Phélan Ségur in the early 20th century. The cellar and the vat room are integrated into the Château in a highly unsual architectural ensemble.
The property is spread over 114 hectares, including 44 hectares of parks, forests, meadows, streams and ponds, forming a remarkable biodiversity reserve. Its 70 hectares of vineyards benefit from the temperature regulation provided by the proximity of the River; they are divided into four very distinct islands and express the diversity of the clay-gravel soils of the appellation. This produces powerful wines often characterised by their tannic structure. The Phélan Ségur style stands out for its elegance, its pure and complex aromas, its finesse and precision, the quality of its tannins and its balance.
Philippe Van de Vyvere is the owner since January 2018. Initiated by his grandfather at an early age, this great connoisseur of Bordeaux was really taken with the Château Phélan Ségur. He intends to apply his entrepreneurial values in pursuit of aesthetic and technical while respecting environmental balances.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Deeply colored, concentrated, and distinctive, St. Estephe is the go-to for great, age-worthy and reliable Bordeaux reds. Separated from Pauillac merely by a stream, St. Estephe is the farthest northwest of the highest classed villages of the Haut Medoc and is therefore subject to the most intense maritime influence of the Atlantic.
St. Estephe soils are rich in gravel like all of the best sites of the Haut Medoc but here the formation of gravel over clay creates a cooler atmosphere for its vines compared to those in the villages farther downstream. This results in delayed ripening and wines with higher acidity compared to the other villages.
While they can seem a bit austere when young, St. Estephe reds prove to live very long in the cellar. Traitionally dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, many producers now add a significant proportion of Merlot to the blend, which will soften any sharp edges of the more tannic, Cabernet.
The St. Estephe village contains two second growths, Chateau Montrose and Cos d’Estournel.