CHÂTEAU RAUZAN-SÉGLA
2014 2ème Cru Classé Margaux
A real gem to taste. This is intense, dense and impressive. John Kolasa has made another cracker here. For all the intensity and depth, which is impressive the overall feeling here is of elegance, a smooth operator. Glossy but not overdone, well-tempered by the fine bright acidity. This is just sophisticated, suave and with all the ingredients for a very charming (and quite long) future. Rating: 93 L&S (Mar 2015)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
The 2014 Rauzan-Segla has a fragrant nose with red berry fruit, cedar, mint and a dab of dark chocolate. Fairly backward at first, it opens nicely in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins. It is a bit rustic in style, but there is satisfying depth and fruit concentration. Blackberry mixes with white pepper and bay leaf toward the finish. For the château in question, it comes across a bit assertive in style, but it pulls it off. It is not bad, though it's surpassed by almost every subsequent vintage. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting. Drinking range: 2024 - 2036 Rating: 91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2024)
High rose petal count on the aromatics of this Rauzan-Ségla, and it is just peering over into its ageing window, gathering up its generous raspberry and cassis fruits, with touches of creme caramel. Love the flexibilty of the tannins as they soften into their second decade, with delicious peony and volet character, excellent. 60% new oak, 37hl/h yield, harvest September 22 to October 16. Last year with John Kolasa as director. Drinking range: 2024 - 2044 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (Feb 2024)
The 2014 Rauzan-Ségla has quite a lush, precocious bouquet with blackberry, raspberry, hints of juniper berry and brown spices, gaining intensity with continued aeration in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, crisp and focused, precise with a detailed, mineral-driven finish that is a real treat. This is a fine Rauzan-Ségla even if it might ultimately end up as a footnote to the exemplary 2015 and 2016. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drinking range: 2022 - 2050 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2018)
Very dense and medicinal – a bit much for a Margaux but an ambitious wine. Slightly sour on the end, but good stuff. Drinking range: 2024 - 2040Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Feb 2018)
The 2014 Rauzan-Ségla is just as impeccable from bottle as it was from barrel. Silky, perfumed and nuanced in the glass, the wine exudes finesse. Expressive floral notes, spice and succulent red/purplish stone fruits are all beautifully delineated. In 2014, Rauzan-Ségla is a wine of understated class with the potential to improve for several decades. Tasted two times. Drinking range: 2020 - 2044 Rating: 94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2017)
The Château Rauzan-Ségla 2014 is a blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc picked between 22 September until 16 October. It has a precise bouquet, nothing incredibly powerful with a touch of cold stone coming through with aeration. This is conservative even for this Margaux estate that usually keeps everything “controlled” out of barrel. The palate is medium-bodied with chalky tannin, crisp acidity, tensile and linear with sappy black fruit towards the finish. I was just seeking more substance to come through on the finish – it just does not quite deliver that knock out blow. Drinking range: 2017 - 2032 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2015)
Very fine expression from start to finish: Cabernet black fruits with restrained ripeness, slightly smoky spice from the oak, and supple yet firm texture on the palate. Still a long way to go to show its really classy vineyard fruit, but a great future. (Highly recommended Margaux, Decanter.) Drinking range: 2019 - 2035 Rating: 93 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2015)
The 2014 Rauzan-Ségla is shaping up to be a real jewel of a wine. Super-polished and silky throughout, the 2014 is all about nuance. Red cherry, red currant and mint open up in a translucent, beautifully delineated wine. Ferrous and savory notes follow as the wine blossoms in the glass, revealing its depth and resonance. All the elements fall into place in a gracious wine that is at once classically austere, yet also supple and highly expressive, with virtually no sensation of tannin and terrific overall balance. Tasted twice. Rating: 92-95 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2015)
Dark crimson. Lifted and racy on the nose. Aérien, as they say. Quite ethereal. Far from heavy but sappy and appetising and well balanced. Really quite subtle. Attractively dry, but not drying, finish. Archetypal claret that lingers on the palate. The acid is only just not dominant, mind you. Drinking range: 2023 - 2036 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2015)
The nose has a floral character, violets, fragrant, bright and fresh fruited. Sweet in the middle there is depth of fruit richness fleshy and supple with rounded tannins. The back palate is fresher bright but the finish has depth, sweet fruit richness. Drinking range: 2026 - 2038 Rating: 89-93 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (Apr 2015)
This Chanel-owned property has produced a suitably stylish wine in 2014, but one that doesn’t sell at haute couture prices. In fact, it should be among the bargains of the vintage. Elegant, shimmering and silky, with balletic poise, mineral undertones and flavours of cassis, lead pencil and liquorice. Drinking range: 2020 - 2030 Rating: 95 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2015)
Soft-edged, with plum and black cherry fruit, laced with light sandalwood and tea notes that linger through the supple finish, which gains some extra velvety layers of blackberry and anise with air. Rating: 89-92 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2015)
A powerful and dense Rauzan with firm and chewy tannins that are polished and direct. Full body, yet the acid and tannin tension gives the wine impressive length. Will develop wonderfully. Rating: 94-95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Mar 2015)
Château Rauzan-Ségla
Margaux Deuxième cru 1855 During the late 17th Century Pierre Desmezures de Rauzan gradually accumulated a sizable portfolio of vineyard property in Pauillac and Margaux. The Pauillac properties ended up, through his daughter's marriage into the Pichon family, as the two great Pichon châteaux (and a small parcel even ended up as part of Château Latour). The Margaux vineyards continued with the family name until 1792 when the Rauzan estate was split between two daughters, one who married Pierre Louis de Ségla and the other who was married to the Seigneur de Gassies. Both Rauzans were awarded 2nd Growth status in 1855, and for the remainder of the 19th Century Château Rauzan-Ségla was regarded as one of the leading Deuxième cru. Frédéric Cruse bought Rauzan-Ségla in 1903 and had the present château built, although the 54 years of Cruse family ownership saw the estate go into slow decline. Through the 1970's and into the 80's, however, much needed investment and renewal put Château Rauzan-Ségla back on the map. There are just over 50ha of vines spread between Margaux and Cantenac - 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and just 1% Cabernet Franc. The hand-harvested grapes are fremented in temperature-controlled stainless-steel before spending up to 20 months in oak (50%-60% new). For a long time the estate was spelt "Rausan-Ségla" but, in 1994, they reverted to the historical spelling with a "z".
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.