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Goedhuis, April 2022, Score: 93-95
Calon Segur’s proximity to the river means it has a reputation of avoiding the vagaries of frost, and such is the case in 2021. At 12.9% alcohol, this blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot is reminiscent of great Medoc wines of the past. A combination of fruit compote, dark currants and black Valrhona chocolate. So full of bright, fresh, lively fruit, a wine which may appear shy in its youth, but has the pedigree and balance to age with grace. The lovely reserve of this wine today will be its joy in the future. A special wine.
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Neal Martin, April 2022, Score: 95-97
The 2021 Calon Ségur was cropped at 36hL/ha and aged entirely in new oak for a planned 20 months. This year, the gap between the Grand Vin and the Marquis is blatantly obvious, to the extent that they are practically different wines, which is how Vincent Millet and his team treat them. The Cabernet is firmly in the driving seat here, with detailed, graphite-infused black fruit and a background florality that comes through with aeration. The medium-bodied palate displays very fine tannins, superb acidity (pH 3.65) and impressive harmony. This has exemplary build in the mouth, fine weight on the finish and a persistent aftertaste. An outstanding Calon-Ségur, elevated by the risks taken in de-leafing in June and waiting to pick. Bravo. Drink 2027 - 2055
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Antonio Galloni, April 2022, Score: 94-96
The 2021 Calon Ségur is a gorgeous wine that is going to need a number of years to fully come into its own. Aromatic, punchy and croquant, as the French say, the 2021 is a vibrant, mid-weight Calon that will delight readers who enjoy classically built claret. Don't look for the size or opulence of recent vintages. The 2021 is a cool, classy Saint-Estèphe to savor for years and decades to come. I loved it. Drink 2031-2061
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Wine Advocate, April 2022, Score: 95-96+
A brilliant effort that will delight Médoc purists, the 2021 Calon-Ségur wafts from the glass with aromas of rose petals, wild berries, plums, Indian spices, woodsmoke and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and seamless, it's deep and lively, with beautifully ripe tannins and an exquisitely balanced profile. In spirit, this blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot is reminiscent of the 1996 vintage, though the 2021 won't go through such an extended period of hibernation and will attain a much higher peak of quality. It attained 12.9% alcohol without any chaptalization, saignée or osmosis. Tasted twice.
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Matthew Jukes, May 2022, Score: 19
This wine tells the story of the vintage on the Left Bank in one sniff. You will note that Calon included 92% Cabernets in 2021, and this means that it has managed to triumph with pinpoint accurate cassis fruit notes, a slender, silky chassis and extraordinary freshness. Calon picked the Cabernets and the Petit Verdot from 4th until 13th October, and this long hang time and the lovely sunny conditions meant that this is a fully ripe wine but with an enviably trim alcohol level and amazing aromas. Winemaker Vincent Millet told me they are planting more Cabernet Franc to boost their wines in vintages when Merlot falls short of the mark. With a textbook ‘Cabernets’ perfume and amazing linear accuracy, this is a chiselled Calon with alluring silkiness and not a trace of excess flesh or weight. I imagine it will drink well after seven or eight years, and, no doubt by then, Cabernet Franc will be adding its violet tones to the Cabernet Sauvignon blackcurrant core. Truly medium-weight and refreshingly crisp, this perfectly reflects the property and its prime position in Saint-Estèphe. It is also one of the purest expressions I have ever tasted of this estate.
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Wine Cellar Insider, April 2022, Score: 94-96
Dark garnet in color, tobacco leaf, spicy currants, dried flowers, and blackberries are found on the nose. Medium-bodied, fresh, vibrant and lifted, the fruit is on the elegant, classic side with good sweetness and should be relatively precocious. The finish delivers a nice, spicy, minty, uplifted endnote. The wine was produced from 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, 12.9% ABV, 3.65 pH. The harvest took place September 28, finishing October 13. Drink from 2025-2047.
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Jane Anson, April 2022, Score: 95
This is delicious, refined, poised, one of the wines of the vintage. Has the signature of 2021 in terms of cool and savoury fruits, with graphite and gunsmoke aromatics. A cool climate Calon, very different from the style of wines you have found here in the trio of 2018-2019-2020, but it is successful, and a fine example of the savoury, sculpted wines that were possible within the conditions of the year. Understated power, juicy finish, old school elegance. You can begin drink in around 6 or 7 years, but will age. On questioning, there were a few reasons for their success - they deleafed on both sides at the end of June for the first time since director Vincent Millet arrived at Calon in 2006 to aerate the grapes, and together with the dry August were able to get some natural concentration. Harvest September 28 until October 14, 100% new oak. 43% 1st wine, 36hl/h yield. Potential upscore when in bottle.
