Rqauzan Segla 2011, 2017 and 1988
All vintages(2011, 2017 and 1988) look young and robust enough, with a tight rim. All vintages give a consistent, confident, complex nose of floral, black cherry, truffle, thyme, and plum aromas (compared to the En Primeur Team tasted back then). Full-bodied, rich, and concentrated drinking in 2011 has a good structure. 2017 gives clean fruit and tastes modern. Back to traditionality, 1988 gives a complex, dry fruit, minerality and classic spice.
Rauzan Seglas is well-liked by us because of its:
Silky smooth tannins and freshness (premium fruit quality, sorting, parcel by parcel vinification, relatively low alcohol at 13.5% still despite higher merlot content used) that lingers on your palate and adds exceptional ripeness to it(higher merlot composition for the class, manual harvest);
Vigorous mid-palate intensity good structure(increased to 10,000 vines per hectare, efficient drainage with a new drainage system, crop thinning, smaller vats);
Reasonable complexity integrated primary, secondary and tertiary tones(4 royal grapes by design);
Medium Power(vinification takes place at 35 Celsius for suitable extraction, malolactic fermentation in smaller vats for fixing even better fruit, the wine aged in an average 60% new, French oak barrels for between 18 months, hence the richness)
Of course, this wine holds a special place amongst veteran importers because John Kolasa, the winemaker, was and still is a friend to many Hong Kong tasters. He was replaced in 2014 by LVMH's other winemaker.
It is priced super effectively as a Super Second of Margaux (sic, President Thomas Jefferson of USA), coupled with the ability to age and develop. If you like Margaux, 2017, Rauzan Segla deserves a place in your cellar. 2011 is more for immediate consumption, and 1988 is for nostalgic appreciation.
Full decanting is recommended. That evening, when we tasted it, its virtues come close to frailty, as if silence speaks even more than the sound of music and cadence tells as much as arpeggios. It is a wine for dining at candlelight and whispers, accompanied by good dishes and an intimate friend.
