Chateau Calon Segur 1996 750ml

Calon, which means “little river skiff” and was used in the Middle Ages to ferry timber over the Gironde estuary, gave the region its name, which was previously known as Calones or Saint-Estephe-de-Calon. Chateau Calon-Segur was one of Saint-Estephe’s original three vineyards, and in 1825, Chateau Montrose was a forest-land tract owned by the Calon-Segur estate.

By marriage, the estate passed to Nicolas-Alexandre, marquis de Segur, who also owned Chateau Latour and Chateau Lafite. Despite owning these two First Growths, the Marquis stated that his “heart was with Calon,” and the wine’s label now features a drawing of a heart around the Chateau name.

The oak is more prominent in this vintage (50%), accompanied by scents of redcurrant, cedar, loam, and undergrowth. These aromatics can grow farther. The tongue is medium-bodied, with sticky tannin on the entrance, and it’s one of the more youthful and backward 1996s I’ve tried throughout my visits. It has a manly, robust mouthfeel and is quite Saint Estèphe-like.