The 2020 Phelan Segur is a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it comes skipping out of the glass with youthful, carefree scents of redcurrant jelly, blackcurrant pastilles, black raspberries, and mulberries, plus suggestions of red roses, underbrush, crushed rocks, and graphite, plus a waft of cedar. The medium-bodied palate is super-intense yet wonderfully elegant, delivering arresting floral and mineral accents to the layers of red and black fruits, all framed by firm, very fine-grained tannins. The finish is fantastically long, fragrant, and uplifting. (LPB)

The Grand Vin 2020 Château Phelan Ségur from director Véronique Dausse checks in as 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and 2% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, and this is the first time that blend has included all four varieties. Aged 18 months in 55% new French oak, its vivid purple color is followed by a gorgeous bouquet of pure cassis and black raspberry fruits as well as complex floral, spice, and crushed stone-like minerality. Medium to full-bodied and flawlessly balanced, with silky tannins, it's an incredibly classy, seamless, elegant 2020 that shows the ripe yet classic style of this incredible vintage. It will evolve gracefully for over two decades.

Clean and compelling, quite richly textured with bright black fruits but also savoury touches. This is brooding and you can feel the power and the concentration of the vintage. Ripe tannins remain prominent with spiced edges giving tension and linearity throughout. Forward, intense but detailed, nuanced and seductive. Feels well worked, salty and tangy. Give it time but this will have fans. So sleek and well controlled with bite. Lovely. (GH)