MARQUIS DE CALON
2020 Saint Estèphe Château Calon Ségur
Fresh blackberries, blackcurrants, graphite, chocolate and spearmint on the nose. Medium to full body, with sleek and well-integrated tannins. Fruity and approachable for the appellation, with a cool, minty finish. Second wine of Calon Segur. Better after 2024. Rating: 93 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2023)
* 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.
Time and élevage have been kind to the 2020 Le Marquis de Calon Ségur. Silky, plush and inviting, the Marquis is showing so well today. Super-ripe dark cherry, plum, espresso, mocha and incense all meld together in a Merlot-based Saint-Estèphe of real class. This is a gorgeous second wine. Drinking range: 2024 - 2030 Rating: 92 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
The 2018 Le Marquis de Calon Ségur has a slightly smudged bouquet that clarifies with time. Brambly red fruit intermix with loam and a touch of peppermint. This is actually more open than I anticipated. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, touches of white pepper, just easing off a little prematurely on the finish where I would have liked more grip. Otherwise, this will give a decade of drinking pleasure. Drinking range: 2023 - 2033 Rating: 89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Le Marquis de Calon Ségur is a powerhouse. All of the intensity of the hot, dry summer comes through in the wine's flavor profile and imposing tannins. Inky black cherry, smoke, licorice, cloves and incense build in the glass. Today, the tannins are pretty bruising. Let's see what time brings. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 87-89 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)
The 2020 Le Marquis de Calon-Ségur offers blackberry, briary, brown spices and undergrowth on its backward nose that demanded 30 minutes in the glass to really open. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly angular opening. There is good acidity here, with a touch of herbaceousness developing on the finish that is a little abrupt. Drinking range: 2023 - 2028 Rating: 86-88 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)
The northern Medoc did beautifully in this vintage. And the second wine from Château Calon Segur, the 2020 Le Marquis De Calon Ségur, looks to be terrific. Offering a great nose of damp earth, violets, cassis, and more blue-tinged fruits, it’s medium to full-bodied and has a ripe, polished, seamless texture, notable tannins, and a great finish. It’s everything you would want from a second wine and is ideal for drinking over the coming 10-15 years. Rating: 92-94 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)
The 2020 Le Marquis de Calon-Ségur blend is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, with an alcohol of 14.6%. It is aging for an anticipated 17 months in French oak barrels, 30% new. Deep purple-black in color, it bursts from the glass with bombastic scents of stewed black plums, crème de cassis and blueberry pie with nuances of violets and licorice, plus a waft of menthol. The medium to full-bodied palate is chock-full of juicy black fruits with plush tannins and just enough freshness, finishing spicy. This is a very different style from the grand vin (Calon-Ségur), but also very delicious. Drinking range: 2024 - 2039 Rating: 89-91 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (May 2021)
Another strong wine in the Calon-Ségur stable this year, showing depth and clarity of flavour. No getting around the concentration in the tannins, well balanced by brambled berry fruits and the St-Estèphe feeling of confident power. After an extremely dry July, here they saw 45mm of rain in three days in August, followed by another stretch of no rain from 15 August to 21st September. Helps explain the low 33hl/ha yields. 30% new barrels. 3.7pH. Drinking range: 2024 - 2040 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)
This is spicy and juicy with blackberry, bark and some spices. Full and chewy. Flavorful finish. Some lead pencil and iodine. Second wine of Calon. Rating: 93-94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2021)
This is a lush and expansive Marquis in 2020 with prickly acidity and grippy tannins punctuating every move it makes. While the palate emphasises its youthfulness the nose reveals amazing detail and layer upon layer of red and black fruit. You will have to be patient for this wine to soften because the tannins are certainly powerful but this is a genuine slice of Calon Ségur passion and excellence and I am certain that it will blossom beautifully in a decade or so. Rating: 17.5+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (May 2021)
50% Merlot, 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Petit Verdot. Cask sample. A touch more Merlot this year so slightly sweeter and initially a plummy, red-fruit profile, although the dark fruit comes through later. Round and full on the mid palate then with more length on the finish. Alcohol shows a tad. Drinking range: 2025 - 2035 Rating: 16.5 James Lawther MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2021)
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 on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.
Ordering
Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.
Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.
Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (at 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 £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery of 2024 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2026. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.
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). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.
Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-
- +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
- +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
- +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.
Storage Options:
Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2026. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.