2000 Phélan Ségur

Hi,

Enjoyed yesterday with roast free range chicken. How wonderful such simple food can be (as opposed to battery, industrial birds)!

The color of this wine made it look younger than its years.

The relatively understated nose was very Médoc, with ethereal blackcurrant and pencil shavings.

The wine did not have the richness and volume of a top-flight wine, but was very satisfying, perfectly in keeping with its status as a “cru bourgeois exceptionnel*”. There was decent tannic grip on the finish, but all-in-all, this is a good time to to drink 2000 Phelan Ségur - in answer to that eternal question in Bordeaux of when to find the best balance between fruit and tertiary characteristics. Confirms that mid-range 2000 wines are ready to go.

Served the wine blind to the wife. She asked: “Bordeaux”? Yes. Rumination. “Saint-Estèphe”? Yes. More swirling, sipping and wrinkling of brow. “2000”? Yessiree. I think I’ll keep her…

  • The “cru exceptionnel” ranking disappeared in the most recent classification of the crus bourgeois, but appearently they will be brining it back.

Best regards,
Alex R.

It’s been a while since I had one of this estate’s wines, but I always thought it was a superb entry into learning the qualities of Saint Estephe.

Shared a bottle of this last week - agreed, lovely wine. Hope my 09s are as good.

We had a 1989 recently that was textbook. Really enjoyable Bordeaux.