Château Rauzan-Ségla 2015

The wines of Château Rauzan-Ségla have captivated the minds and seduced the hearts of many for the greater part of three centuries. The American President and oenophile Thomas Jefferson was a fan of this beguiling Margaux estate and ordered several cases during his well-documented visit to Bordeaux in 1784.   Château Rauzan-Ségla was delineated as a 2nd Growth during the 1855 Classification, yet many will claim the wines from Rauzan-Ségla have a shot of standing up to the First Growth producers in terms of quality and sophistication during select vintages.  In the 1980s and early 90s, American wine critic Robert Parker Jr lamented that Rauzan-Ségla was not delivering on its potential.  That was bound to change.

Prior to the 1855 Classification, Château Rauzan-Ségla was a massive estate with sweeping grounds in both Margaux and Cantenac.  They were carved up into four smaller estates – Château Rauzan-Gassies, Château Desmirail, Château Marquis de Terme and the incomparable Château Rauzan-Ségla.  Ownership of the estate changed hands throughout the centuries until it was acquired by the Wertheimer family of the iconic women’s fashion brand, Chanel.  The family took the quality of Château Rauzan-Ségla to new heights and hired a winemaking team led by Château Latour’s David Orr and John Kolasa.  Since the Wertheimer family acquired the estate, the wines of Rauzan-Ségla have become more promising with each consecutive vintage.  The present winemaker Nicolas Audebert brings his skill from Möet Chandon and believes in producing wines that will last for decades.

Château Rauzan-Ségla is proof that great wine is a product of both exceptional terroir and winemaking technique.  With its gently sloping vineyards and mixture of soils, Château Rauzan-Ségla has arguably some of the best terroir in all of Margaux.  Nothing is left to chance at this estate, and the winemaking team carefully assesses the optimum terroirs to plant the vines.  Multiple clones of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot are planted in different parcels on the estate depending on the soil.  Merlot is planted on the vineyard sites with bluish clay and Cabernet Sauvignon is planted in the more graveled areas of the 79-hectare vineyard.   Berries are tasted individually for ripeness and then picked and vinified parcel by parcel.  The weather is fairly moderate due to the proximity of the Gironde.  Regardless, adaptability is key here, and the team of expert vignerons must pivot during extreme weather conditions in this ever-changing environment.  With the help of cutting-edge winemaking technology and expertise in the field, the Rauzan-Ségla team navigates the capricious weather and delivers consistently excellent wines.

There is an ethos of elegance at Château Rauzan-Ségla, and it permeates nearly every facet of the estate and its wines.  If one is fortunate enough to visit the Château, one will marvel at the richly furnished interior designed by the incomparable Karl Lagerfeld.  Just a sip of one of Rauzan-Ségla’s opulent wines is enough to envelop the drinker in a whirlwind of sophistication.  The grand vin, Rauzan-Ségla, promises a delightfully rich journey with the beautiful aroma of cigar box that is signature to the estate.  The sister wine, Ségla, is friendly, fresh and succulent.  It possesses some of the intensity of Rauzan-Ségla, but is a much more approachable wine that begs to be enjoyed immediately. 

"The 2015 Rauzan-Ségla, picked September 10 to October 9, has a lucid deep colour. No great surprise that this performed exactly as it did a few weeks earlier. The bouquet bursts from the glass with fragrant red berry fruit, crushed violets and iris, almost penetrating in its intensity. You can feel the energy coiled up inside this nascent Margaux. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. This has such a backbone and structure, layers of sappy black fruit suffused with crushed stone, a seam of graphite that lends it a Pauillac-like allure. It feels very long and intense, a Rauzan-Ségla destined to last decades rather than years. Tasted at the Rauzan-Ségla vertical at the château." - Neal Martin, vinous.com (July, 2019), Rating: 96, Drink: 2024-2055

"The 2015 Rauzan-Segla (Rausan-Segla) is a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc and was matured in 65% new and 35% one-year-old barrels for 18 months. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it gives up a myriad of softly spoken fresh berry, floral and fragrant earth notes, including crushed red and black currants, black raspberries and menthol notes with touches of cigar box, lavender, violets, smoked meats, black truffles and chargrill. Medium to full-bodied with a firm frame of very finely grained tannins and seamless freshness, the palate possesses an arresting quiet intensity of many tightly wound, subtle layers, finishing on a lingering mineral note. Very polished and precise, this Rauzan-Ségla is truly a triumph!" - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2/21/2018, Interim Issue), Ratings: 97, Drink: 2024-2047

"The 2015 Rauzan-Segla is a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc cropped at 40 hl/ha between 10 September with the young Merlot vines and finishing with the Cabernet Sauvignon, which was picked between 22 September and 9 October. It is matured in 65% new oak for around 18 months. It has a very intense, almost crystalline bouquet with blackberry, briary, flint and just a touch of violet petal. There is incredible delineation here and the new wood is seamlessly integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with extremely fine tannin, perfectly judged acidity, otherworldly purity and a mineralité rarely seen in this Margaux estate. This is a brilliant Rauzan-Ségla, not necessarily more powerful than previous vintages, though enhanced by its precision, frisson and energy, perhaps longer on the finish. Winemaker Nicolas Audebert has conspired with the benevolent growing season to produce a benchmark wine for the estate." - Neal Martin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (4/27/2016, Issue 224), Ratings: 96-98, Drink: 2027-2060