Calon meaning little river skiff used in Middle Ages to ferry timber across the Gironde estuary, gave name to the district which was at one point known as Calones or Saint-Estephe-de-Calon. In early times, Chateau Calon-Segur was one of the original three vineyards in Saint-Estephe, and in 1825 Chateau Montrose was a forest-land parcel belonging to the Calon-Segur estate.
By marriage, the estate came to be owned by Nicolas-Alexandre, marquis de Segur who also owned Chateau Latour and Chateau Lafite. Despite his ownership of these two First Growths, the Marquis said that his “heart was with Calon” and the wine’s label today includes a drawing of a heart around the Chateau’s name.
Ch.Calon Segur 1996 1500ml
$557.00
Tasted at the château, the 1996 Calon Segur is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 25% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. This was always a feted wine in its youth by Robert Parker and myself. Now at 20 years of age there is fine delineation on the nose with more detail than the 1986 tasted alongside. The oak is a little more present here (50% in this vintage) married with plenty of redcurrant, cedar, loam and undergrowth aromas. These aromatics can develop further. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannin on the entry, perhaps one of the most youthful and backward of the 1996s that I tasted during my visits. It feels firm in the mouth, masculine, very Saint Estèphe.
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