MARQUIS DE CALON
2015 Saint Estèphe Château Calon Ségur
Sweeter and more accessible than the Capbern, a simple slightly jammy sweetness to start, but the texture still clarety, pure elegant. There is proportionately less Merlot than usual , as the Cabernet Franc is mostly in this second wine, making up over 10% of it. The rest is 33% Cabernet Sauvignon and 57% Merlot. Rating: 89-90 L&S (Apr 2016)
* 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.
In a tricky vintage in St Estèphe, Vincent Millet has made some impressive wines. This second label, sourced from younger vines, has classic Calon tannins, balanced by sappy freshness and acidity. Pretty serious and structured for a lesser wine. Drinking range: 2020 - 2028 Rating: 92 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (May 2016)
The second wine of Calon-Ségur. The blend is 57% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc. This takes 55% of the crop this year, leaving 5% to be sold to the négoce. Quite a cool and gravelly nose, quite a contrast to the voluptuous style offered by Merlot-dominated right-bank wines. I get more of that dried blackcurrant, curranty note. A surprisingly cool and tense character on the palate, a very elegant poise, with a gentle midpalate texture that builds, with considerably ripe tannins beneath. Cool, albeit with a ripe structure, medium-grained, with a rather lean substance for the structure, the tannins fairly prominent in the middle. Clean, lightly juicy, with a short finish. Rating: 14.5-15.5/20 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2016)
Fine, St-Estèphe nose. Some richness, certainly full ripeness. Classic, very satisfying, well-balanced stuff. GV Drinking range: 2020 - 2030 Rating: 16.5+ Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2016)
Beautifully expressed fruit: ripe 57% Merlot with a lift from 10% Cabernet Franc. Wonderful purity and freshness and extremely elegant for St-Estèphe; a perfect second wine. Drinking range: 2019 - 2029 Rating: 91 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Le Marquis de Calon Ségur is a pretty wine. Lifted, precise and decidedly feminine in style. Bright red cherry, blood orange, tobacco and expressive floral notes add to the wine's mid weight structure. Silky tannins add to the wine's near term appeal. I would prefer to drink the Marquis sooner rather than later. Rating: 88-90 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
Very finely textured with blueberry and blackberry character. Very polished tannins. Fresh finish. Second wine of Calon Segur. Rating: 91-92 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Mar 2016)
Château Calon Ségur
St Estèphe Troisième cru 1855 Château Calon Ségur is the northernmost Grand Cru estate classified in 1855, sitting just north of the village of St Estèphe. It was once part, as the name suggests, of the vast holdings of the Ségur family, owners amongst others of Lafite and Latour. In the 18th Century, Nicolas-Alexandre Ségur is said to have remarked "I make my wine at Lafite and Latour but my heart is in Calon", and the label bears his heart to this day. In the early years of the 19th Century, the then owner Etienne Dumoulin became interested in an underdeveloped part of the estate, which was cleared and planted with vines. Such was the quality that the rump of Calon-Ségur was sold off, and Etienne's new estate went on to become Château Montrose. Calon-Ségur came into the hands of the Gasqueton family in 1894, and it is still owned by the family. A solid performer, especially recently, the Grand Vin is made with a relatively high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon (as high as 90% in some vintages). The vineyards are 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc and the wines spend 18 months in wood. The second wine is Marquis de Calon.
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.