chateau rauzan segla 1976

"at the end of the 17th century, the vineyards of châteaux rauzan-ségla and rauzan-gassies formed a single estate, established by pierre des mesures de rauzan in 1661. he also owned the vineyards that would later form châteaux pichon longueville baron and comtesse de lalande. the estate was divided up on his death in 1692, a split that became official in the mid 17th century. the cruse family, who acquired it in 1903, changed the spelling of the wine's name to rausan ségla. the vineyard suffered particularly from the frosts of the winter of 1956. the following year it was sold to an investor, monsieur de meslon. he replaced a large part of the vines and mechanised the property. he sold rausan ségla in 1960 to john holt & co. although the young vines produced a disappointing wine until the beginning of the 1980s, from 1983 onwards they returned to an excellent level under the leadership of jacques theo. as manager of the estate, he carried out major modernisation work (construction of a new cellar, purchase of stainless steel vats, increase in the proportion of new oak used for ageing). however, it was not until 1994 that the estate experienced a new boom: it fell into the hands of the very discreet wertheimer family, owners of the chanel company. rauzan-ségla then regained its original spelling. new investments were made, both in the château and in the technical installations. notable operations were carried out to promote the estate (e.g.: label for the 2009 vintage designed by the fashion designer karl lagerfeld). the vineyard has been completely restructured. it must be said that it benefits from an excellent terroir, with two parcels of its vineyard adjoining the vines of château margaux. the famous château rauzan-ségla, located in the heart of the margaux appellation, presents us here with a second cru classé made from a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot and cabernet franc. the vines are on average 30 years old, and are planted on a deep clay gravel soil on the banks of the gironde. the grapes are harvested by hand, on a parcel-by-parcel basis. in the cellar, the wine-making process is also parcel-based, with gravity-fed vatting in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. the juice is then aged for 18 months in french oak barrels. this red wine has a nose of infinite freshness, supported by notes of black fruit and red rose petals. on the palate, this nectar is structured and silky, with fine tannins and red fruit aromas. in order to reveal all its aromatic complexity, forget this bottle in the cellar for many years. before tasting, decant it two hours before serving at a temperature of 17 degrees. it will be perfect with entrecote à la bordelaise."