Region | |
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Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Margaux |
Colour | Red |
Type | Still |
View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Rauzan-Segla
The 2008 Rauzan-Segla (62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot) was made from 45% of the production. It is a beautiful wine in this vintage, not nearly as powerful and structured as the 2010, but it has complex notes of sweet red and black fruits, unsmoked cigar tobacco, spice box and a hint of very subtle wood. The complex perfume is followed by a dark ruby/plum-colored wine with beautifully sweet tannins, a silky, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and a long finish. This outstanding Margaux should drink nicely for 15-20 years.
Offers flowers, currant, berries and sandalwood on the nose. Full-bodied, with firm tannins and lots of fruit and freshness. Firm and racy. There's a little more Cabernet this year and no Petit Verdot
Lightly fragrant. Not especially intense but well balanced though pretty forward. Sudden finish. Easy wine for relatively early consumption. Neat, long finish. It's all on the end with this wine. Great complex finish.
This outstanding effort is atypically forward, sexy, and opulent. Only 45% of the crop made it into this blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. Yields were 47 hectoliters per hectare, which is slightly higher than some estates, but the harvest was very late, between October 2-21. Sweet cassis, black cherry, licorice, tobacco leaf, and spice box are all present in the complex aromatics. In the mouth, the wine offers generosity, roundness, sweetness, and velvety, ripe tannins. I was surprised by how forward, precocious, and delicious this wine has already become. It appears set for a relatively long life of 25+ years.
Tasted ex-château and single blind in Southwold. I was rather mean to this 2008 when I first composed my notes, but it seemed to blossom in the glass. It is initially very reticent on the nose, typical for this estate, but there are attractive tertiary notes in the background. There are some lovely, almost meaty scents that emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied, the tannins rigid and obdurate leading to a masculine, dry, foursquare finish. Needs just a little more flesh, but that seems to come with time with Segla. It is nowhere near the level of the 2009, but it will be an attractive Margaux (note future tense.) Tasted January 2012.
Compared to Rauzan-Gassies, the Rauzan Segla has more fruit concentration on the nose: blackberry, tar, a touch of pomegranate and spice. Good definition. The palate is medium-bodied, harmonious, just lacking the structure and length that I was expecting. Given time in the glass though it begins to unfold, revealing more depth than first supposed with a very elegant finish of blackberry, cedar and graphite. This should give much more after bottling. Tasted April 2009