Château Haut-Segottes Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2021

A rare Bordeaux featuring a majority of Cabernet Franc, blended in this case with Merlot, Château Haut-Segottes is a tightly-structured, highly age-worthy example of Saint-Émilion with notes of red and black fruit, smoked cherries, cigar, woody spice, tar, dusty earth and well-integrated oak. This is a beautifully complex classic Bordeaux, elegant in the mouth, with the slight cedar and cocoa notes and fine-grained tannins.

Tradition reigns at Château Haut-Segottes. Harvest is manual, fermentation takes place in cuve, wines are rotated into barrel for an élevage of 18 months (approximately 20% of the barrels are new) and wines are bottled unfiltered. Although the majority of the vineyards are planted to Merlot, the ultimate cuvée bottled as Saint-Émilion Grand Cru features a majority of Cabernet Franc. This dominance of Cabernet Franc, frequently on the order of 65%, produces a wine of considerable structure.

Chateau Haut-Segottes is owned and operated by one of the most meticulous and experienced vignerons in Bordeaux, Madame Meunier. Mm. Meunier is the fourth generation of her family to oversee this nine hectare estate situated in the heart of the Saint-Emilion appellation. Her cellar is impeccably organized, and her vineyards are hand-managed by her trio of master gardeners. The organic vineyards are planted to 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and just 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The fruit is all hand-harvested and native-yeast fermented.