The 2014 Calon Segur has been uncorked....

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Feb 14, 2022 10:38 pm

Chillin' a little this week, just uncorked this beauty.
Mmmm on the nose, and the color is just a perfect St. Estephe purple/black fading ever so slightly to deep ruby at the rim, still so youthful.

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Mon Feb 14, 2022 11:43 pm

A nice choice for Valentine Day. I hope you're not alone...

Wish i would have that vintage of Calon Segur.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Feb 14, 2022 11:52 pm

I Zoom over dinner almost every night that I am away from her, Nicola, including, sadly, tonight, but we will make up for lost time later this week in New York.

I love YOU, though... like a brother. Which is a love like none other, more meaningful to me this year than ever before. And I miss you!

Happy Valentine's Day, mon frère.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 12:42 am

Tonight I watched a 25 minute documentary on the 1966 Gemini 12 mission.

It was the last of the epic Gemini missions, a program not without challenges, but a snapshot during the mid-1960s when we went from behind during the Mercury missions, to ahead of the Russians by 1967, when Gemini ended and Apollo dawned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bGpIJmiJ-w

It featured Jim Lovell as the command pilot and Dr. Buzz Aldrin and his epic two-hour-plus space walk, which HAD to be accomplished before the entire program could progress further.

There were numerous successes to come, but this flight was as integral to the success as any of them. And, like, nobody knows about it.

But isn't that how life works, probably like nobody on the planet is thinking about this stuff as we move on with Webb, and beyond.

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 12:49 am

Yes, it has been very long since our last time together, DC in March 2020. And me too, you miss me too. This covid shit seems to finally go away, so i can see us enjoying a good vin de Bordeaux in a not too distant future.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 1:10 am

2014 Calon Segur

This is a stunning, stunning, STUNNING wine. This is a drop-dead wine. Is this the greatest Calon Segur EVER? I say.... YES. Ever. YES!!!! Is this a wine the great experts would debate about? Johnny, if you are out there, I love you man, I LOVE like EVERy one of your movies, my man. What is your favorite vintage? What could POSSIBLY surpass this? 2014 + Calon Segur = Bordeaux Perfection. I, like you, my fellow pirate, just absolutely find this to be THE point of no return.... Everyone is focused a few miles south... at the border of Lafite and Cos. Sorry, my friends.... Chateau Calon Segur has EASILY surpassed Lynch Bages as my favorite wine of the Medoc. It has blown it the F#@k away. The 2014 Calon Segur offers up, like, EVERYTHING if you love traditionally styled Bordeaux in a "modern" era. First off, a note about the 2014 vintage: It is classically styled, restrained in its alcohol, an "Oxford-Cambridge" effort. Incredibly undervalued/underpriced. This wine, the 2014 Calon Segur, is midnight purple/black in color, with the slightest hint of dark, midnight ruby at the rim. Light on its feet would be an insult, but it is deep and rich without ANY sense of overbearingness. This wine will drink well now and, easily, for the next 50 years. It has a classic, Brooks Brothers blue sports coat and reserved tie, conservative New England slacks, classic, nothing-over-the-top profile. Wow, wow, wow! Stunning finish. As good as Bordeaux gets. Better than Cos, better than Lafite. In this vintage, I rate the 2014 Calon Ségur an even 100 points. It is spectacular. Absolutely brilliant. I am so happy to have like 28 more bottles in my cellar. This 2014 vintage is nothing short of amazing. Rating: 100 points.

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 1:30 am

This is a very enthusiastic review Jim, like someone very happy to be out of Alaska, out of place without Bordeaux wine available, back home, enjoying something that missed him for sure.

I believe you Jim. I'm so sad not so many 2014 red Bordeaux made their way here. Me too i'm totally convinced by Calon Segur lately. Remember that 2011 i opened late in Québec City, with dstgolf, Daniele, MC and you? Nobody needed more wine that night, but oh boy that 2011 was sooooo good that we enjoyed it all without any efforts.

What a nice Saint Estèphe! Me too i'm thinking it is slowly making it way to the top of my favorite red of Bordeaux...

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 1:50 am

For me, Nicola, this is Bordeaux perfection. I realize that it is all about individual taste and experience. I can easily see how somebody else could say, what the heck is this guy talking about? For me, this wine provides that perfect combination of depth, class, thrill, fruit combined with reserve, balance, a nose to die for but nothing over the top, age worthiness but drinkable in its adolescence, roses and flowers and summer petals, it has depth and strength in the far reaches of your taste buds but it expresses a summer beach elegance and breed of a Maine ocean cove, or something in a late summer frolic in the Hamptons. It is Harvard and Yale and yet something that country lawyers like me and pirates like Johnny Depp could comprehend. And then you factor in the 2014 Bordeaux vintage. Greatest ever? I’m telling you guys, don’t rule it out, in many ways it rivals 2016. The 2014 Calon Segur for me, in this place and time, is a perfect, 100 point wine.

stefan · Post by **stefan** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:00 am

I guess you think that the 2014 Calon-Segur is not bad.

Personally, I have liked Calon-Segur since the 1970s and have probably drunk more bottles of it that all other St Estephe combined. I regret that you are driving up the price.

Racer Chris · Post by **Racer Chris** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:18 am

Yeah, the price like doubled overnight.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:19 am

I highly recommend that you buy like 3-4 bottles, Stefan, it will be a lovely grace to your 80th, 90th, 100th, and beyond birthday parties, I’ll follow you up with my stash into the great tasting room in the sky. The glory of Calon Segur is that this modern wine is probably as close to your 1970s experiences as anything produced in Bordeaux today.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:21 am

I’m telling you, RC, this is a beauty. I think I bought my original stash of this down near you in CT, then it went on sale in NH and I went wild.

stefan · Post by **stefan** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:27 am

Yeah, I am down to only 7 vintages of Calon-Segur in my cellar. That is the problem with it being our "go to" St Estephe for many years. I never brought one to a BWE convention, not because of the lack of quality but because C-S is generally not considered fancy enough for a special event.

Racer Chris · Post by **Racer Chris** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:29 am

I drank 3 in 2018 and gave it 94 points back then. With only 6 more I'm not ready to open another one yet.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:32 am

There is a freshness and vibrancy to it that belies its age worthiness. It is a 50 year wine that will provide thrills for many years to come. The challenge will be to keep our hands off of them.

Racer Chris · Post by **Racer Chris** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:39 am

I bought a ton of Meyney to help me.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:41 am

Yeah so did I. That’s another sweet spot in 2014. And Sociando.

Ianjaig · Post by **Ianjaig** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 3:02 am

The 2014 Giscours was the one to really “wow” me recently Jim, but I did also have a Calon Segur 14 a couple of years ago and was very impressed. I have 5 CS 14 tucked away and wish I had more.

Great tasting note as well.

JoelD · Post by **JoelD** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 3:33 am

Very interesting. Glad to have 3 of these coming soon. Probably more than you paid but at 110 bucks for a 100 point wine, when will that ever happen again?? BWE will drive the price up to the price of a 1989 Lynch Bages.

I went long on the 2016. I think it will be a beautiful wine with time. I'll be quite curious to see how you rate those side by side in 10 years!

Claudius2 · Post by **Claudius2** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 5:33 am

Guys
I only bought a few 14's and none on EP.
The vintage was I feel badly understood and under-rated initially.
I also noticed you cross-posted your notes to CT and the average score is now 94.3 - meaning you've helped improve it.

It does seem however that this vintage is getting more attention and I'm sorry I did not buy it on EP as it was at the time quite good value.
It was in fact cheaper on EP than 2013, which is way below 2014 in any case.

I will watch them at auction if they come up, but I seem to have missed the initial chance to buy them.
Oh well.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 6:07 am

To me, it is a perfect Bordeaux.
It has a depth, class, balance, the vintage as a whole has a freshness and “purity” that has been unparalleled since the golden decade of the ‘80s. It has great energy now but will improve and become something different for decades.
The 2014 Calon Segur, of course, was a BWE wine of the year.
Again, not everyone will rate this 100 points, this is as much a style handicap as anything else.
I think Gerry and I got this for something like $65 in New Hampshire, I want to say maybe even less, was it like $58 on sale, did you keep track, Gerry?
For me, it is stunning.

Dionysus · Post by **Dionysus** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 12:03 pm

This is a great review Jim. I'm a fan of St Estephe wines in general, Montrose, Meyney, Ormes de-Pez, Phelan Segur, but haven't tasted much of Calon...sounds like I need to right this wrong. Mouth watering description.

I've been slowly purchasing 2014's, but suspect I need to add a few more before pricing gets away from me.

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 12:35 pm

I think we have to take this enthusiastic note in while also factoring in the number of non Bdx wines you were stuck sipping on in Alaska.

As far as pricing went, TW concierge had this on futures for $62.99/btl which I initially bought and then when it hit store shelves in early 2017 it was marked slightly higher $69.99/btl but after the 10% mix6 discount it was essentially back at their futures price so I doubled up as their price was still less than the wholesale replacement costs at the time.

greatbxfreak · Post by **greatbxfreak** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 12:46 pm

Jim,

To take out a famous sentence making the title of a famous hit by BTO, "You ain't seen nothing yet". Wait until you taste 2018.

I will taste in a few days three 2019s from CS, which this property kindly sent to me in Copenhagen to try.

Btw, I have two bottles of CS 2014 in my cellar!

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:13 pm

Looking forward to it GBF, I really want to get as much Calon Segur in my cellar, be it 2018, 2019, or whatever.
I'm kicking myself for not pulling the trigger on the 2019 for $91 at Zachy's before the prices went up, but I think we'll be able to get it at a good price on sale after it hits the shelves in NH.
That $60-something price was I think what we paid in NH, JC, and we were definitely getting gift card deals at the time that effectively brought the price down even more.
IJ, the 2014 Giscours is splendid as well, I think Margaux did great in 2014, but then again I think the whole region, left and right bank, was splendid, in a traditional way.
Dio, St. Estephe may have been the sweet spot in 2014, but, again, the whole vintage is great, I think I like the right bankers as much as the left bank. I remember, as I was developing an awareness of the greatness of the 2014 vintage, I told Howard Kwok that, of the three great vintages of Tour St. Christophe -- 2014-2015-2016 -- 2014 was my favorite. I truly believe the vintage overall rivals 2016.
I have 18 bottles of the 2014 Calon Segur left in my cellar, I look forward to sharing some of them with BWEers in the years ahead!

JoelD · Post by **JoelD** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:08 pm

Wow sub 70 Calon. I am seriously jealous. Although there were so many good prices on 2014 Bordeaux. Luckily I did get some of them. Getting Haut Bailly for 60-70 for 5 bottles was great.

I am very curious to try this. I only have 3 bottles but maybe I will sell or trade some of my 2016's for 2014's in the future.

Speaking of 2014 Calon, I recently was able to acquire a bunch of the 2014 Capbern. Great wine although a tad higher than I like at 14.5% alc. The 2016 Capbern is definitely the better of the two. A bottle of this will be here for you in DC when you pick up those La Conseillantes. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on it.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 6:33 pm

I love that 2016 Capbern, Joel. I haven’t tried the 2014.

Gerry M. · Post by **Gerry M.** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 11:11 pm

I love the 2014 Calon and have 11 bottles left having already enjoyed 4 bottles. As Jim mentioned, in NH we paid about $64/btl plus we were getting an additional $25 gift card for every $150 spent. That would net to about $54. I also grabbed a case of 2016 in NH that will sleep for more than a few years.

For $25/btl the 2016 Ch Capbern is incredible for the money. I've plowed thru eight bottles of my case already.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 11:34 pm

To take out a famous sentence making the title of a famous hit by BTO, "You ain't seen nothing yet". Wait until you taste 2018.

Let's get ready to rock and roll, Izak!

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 11:51 pm

Ah, those were heady times when we were scooping up those 2014s at insanity-plus pricing in NH, Gerry!
There were some absolutely insane deals, the likes of which I hadn't seen since the 2002 vintage.

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 12:42 pm

There is a lot of love in this thread

A whole lotta love

I can’t figure out whether Jim loves 2014 Calon Segur more than Nic. Or Vice Versa

Then there is the fine line between love and sex.

Has Calon Segur gone on to the dark side?

Like Meyney clearly has?

I don’t ask that in a provocative way.

When I went to a 2016 tasting a few years ago I noticed that the Calon was very slick and modern and very high in alcohol. I think it was close to 15%.

I notice the 2018 that Izak is touting is 15%.

Heck the 2014 is nearly 14%. It is supposed to be a cool vintage. What is all that all about?

Annyway I digress. When I was tasting the 2016s they had this French woman there who was super friendly and who looked like a super model. About six foot tall slim, brunette with mesmerising ‘come hither’ eyes. In old fashioned cockney parlance she was a smashing looking bird.

I got her card and tracked her down to arrange a visit for BWE in 2020 but they had a policy of only allowing eight visitors at a time so we would have had to divvy it up.

Calon Segur has always been the bridesmaid while Cos and Montrose vied for number one billing in St-Estephe

stefan said he never brought Calon Segur to a convention because it wasn’t fancy enough

Maybe Calon Segur has gone over to the dark side to grab the lime light? I know that sounds oxymoronic.

Claudius2 · Post by **Claudius2** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 1:14 pm

Guys
Agree that 2014 was good in Margaux.
I’ve drunk Ferriere a few times which was very good and nicer than 2010. The second wine of this estate was also pretty good and I thought was not far behind the Grand Vin, evidencing my view that second wines these days are often much better than they were some decades ago.

2014 Lagrange was stylistically different from what I expected. I drank a few of these last year (bought with Ferriere and a few others at duty free clearance when Covid hit). I was surprised how drinkable the 14s are young. Whilst they are well structured (somehow I think of 1988 as a comparison) they have been easy to drink young.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 1:22 pm

Interesting, the 2011 Calon Segur seems more like that old school style, but maybe it's just the vintage.
The 2014 Calon Segur does seem to be pretty perfect, no blemishes, as we might expect with a 100 point wine.
But sometimes we want imperfections to make things more interesting.
I gave this 100 points more likely on a style level, it seems to check just about every box I look for in my Bordeaux wines of this era.

JoelD · Post by **JoelD** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 2:55 pm

Comte Flaneur wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 12:42 pm
When I went to a 2016 tasting a few years ago I noticed that the Calon was very slick and modern and very high in alcohol. I think it was close to 15%.

Annyway I digress. When I was tasting the 2016s they had this French woman there who was super friendly and who looked like a super model. About six foot tall slim, brunette with mesmerising ‘come hither’ eyes. In old fashioned cockney parlance she was a smashing looking bird.

Maybe Calon Segur has gone over to the dark side to grab the lime light? I know that sounds oxymoronic.

Correct me if i'm wrong. I haven't looked at a bottle lately. But I am 90% sure that the abv on the 2016 Calon is 14%. 14.5% absolute tops, but I would bet against it. I can't find the proper info on google but I'll try to remember to look at the one bottle that I opened.

I do believe the 2016 is somewhat modern and slick however. But smooth and clean when I tasted it. In kind of a dumb phase, actually did not need the decant that I gave it. Better PNP. Killed one in the name of science about a year ago. I will wait at least 5 more years to see if they gain complexity. If they don't start to show signs of that, then I'll sell mine at a healthy profit.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:13 pm

Calon Segur is to St. Estephe what Giscours has become to Margaux.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 4:55 pm

I just checked one of my 2016 Calon Segurs downstairs, Joel, it says 14%.

Musigny 151 · Post by **Musigny 151** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 5:17 pm

I think it the 2014 Calon sounds like a solid investment. Look what happened to Conseillante when Jim gave it the WOTY last year, and the price shot up. How is it not possible that this does not become this year’s?.

Seriously, I love the classicism of the vintage. But there is also great pleasure in the wines.

JoelD · Post by **JoelD** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 5:50 pm

JimHow wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 4:55 pm I just checked one of my 2016 Calon Segurs downstairs, Joel, it says 14%.

Jim to the rescue. Thank you sir. Whats the abv on the 2014?

Chateau Vin · Post by **Chateau Vin** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 5:51 pm

Musigny 151 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 5:17 pm .
.
Look what happened to Conseillante when Jim gave it the WOTY last year, and the price shot up. How is it not possible that this does not become this year’s?.
.
.

Musigny

It's not possible that this does not become this year's WOTY. Because 2014 Calon Segur is already the WOTY for the year 2017...

=============================================

2000: 1996 Sociando-Mallet
2001: 1989 Lynch-Bages
2002: 1995 d'Yquem
2003: 1999 Haut Brion Blanc
2004: 2000 Pichon Baron and 2000 du Tertre
2005: 2000 Margaux
2006: 2003 Pontet-Canet
2007: 2002 Leoville Poyferre
2008: 2005 Burgundy vintage (protest vote)
2009: 1989 Lafite Rothschild
2010: 2005 Cantemerle
2011: 2008 Leoville Poyferre
2012: 2009 Giscours
2013: 2004 Smith Haut Lafitte
2014: 2010 Chasse Spleen
2015: 2012 Leoville Las Cases
2016: 2012 Barde-Haut
2017: 2014 Calon Segur
2018: 2015 Brane Cantenac
2019: 2016 Tour Saint Christophe
2020: 2016 Leoville Barton and 2008 Dom Perignon
2021: 2014 La Conseillante

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 6:02 pm

Indeed it was CV!
The 2014 is 14% as well Joel.