The 2023 Rauzan-Ségla is magnificent. The marriage of elegance and power is just compelling. Rich, layered and nearly seamless in the glass, the 2023 is so impressive. Dried herbs, cedar, tobacco and incense capture tons of Cabernet Sauvignon savoriness. The intensity of the dark red/purplish fruit is remarkable. Rauzan-Ségla is one of the wines of the vintage. Tasted three times.
Crème de cassis, graphite, flowers, and spicy wood all emerge from the 2023 Château Rauzan-Ségla, a truly brilliant Margaux that is particularly unique in the vintage due to a 30-40% loss of Merlot, resulting in an unusually high Cabernet Sauvignon content. Based on 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13.5% Merlot, and 1.5% Petit Verdot and aged 18 months in 15% new barrels, it's medium-bodied on the palate, with a concentrated, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, pure, polished tannins, and a great finish. This smokingly good beauty is flawlessly balanced and will shine for three decades if well stored. Don't miss this. It's worth a case purchase. Drink 2029-2056.
The polish and beauty to this is really impressive, with blackberry, black currant, milk chocolate, cherry and a hint of stone aromas that are pulled together in a subtle way. it's medium- to full-bodied with class and sophistication. 85% cabernet sauvignon, 13.5% merlot and 1.5% petit verdot. One of the highest percentages of cabernet ever. Needs four or five years to come together. Best after 2029.
TWI
97pts
The Wine Independent
95-97+ 2023 Rauzan-Segla has a great, sweet and precise nose of cherries, red berries and cassis. The taste is smooth and velvety and very tempting ending in a fresh, clean, elegant and aristocratic aftertaste. Rauzan Segla has gone from success to success in recent vintages and this is yet another example of how great and precise the wines from this chateau are.
Blue fruits, wax crayon on the nose, some soft floral notes, a little quiet aromatically. Intense and forward, this is bright and focussed, a little more velvety than Segla, this has a verticality but with a deep mid palate that really extends giving more of a feeling of controlled power. Certainly not shouting but this is very polished. Quite a serious take, more dark fruit, less lively crunchy red fruit, A great result with structure and volume. There's a balance between intensity and freshness but all delivered subtly and with class. More Margaux than some others in the vintage, soft tannins give a touch of voluptuousness. Touches of wet stone also linger on the finish. A lot to like here. Feels very Rauzan, very polished, a touch ‘less’ than 2022 of course, but this has great energy and a lot of drinkability. 3.61pH. 60% grand vin production.
The 2023 Rauzan-Ségla is pure and seamless, exhibiting aromas of cherries and cassis, pencil shavings and a nicely integrated patina of new oak. Medium- to full-bodied, layered and fleshy, with a rich core of fruit, sweet tannins and lively acids, it concludes with a long, penetrating finish.
This is remarkably tight for a ’23, showing iron-encased notes of black cherry, currant and bitter plum reduction that show cut and drive but are a ways off from melding fully with the chestnut leaf, violet and ink accents that lie atop them. Almost bristling with tension, but there’s coiled energy and serious precision. The rare vin de garde for this vintage. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2028 through 2040.