Freddy R. Troya

9.0

Château La Tour de Bessan Margaux 2022 — Margaux, Bordeaux, France 🇫🇷

Overview
A classic Left Bank blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon · 30% Merlot · 5% Petit Verdot (estate typically varies slightly by vintage) delivering structure, elegance, and aromatic finesse. Great frame and graphite tension coming from the Cab Sauv., mid-palate polish thanks to Merlot, and liked how Petit Verdot brings subtle spice and color depth. A beautifully traditional, unclassified Margaux that punches above its weight.

Aromas & Flavors
Black cherry, blackberry, cassis, violet, pencil shavings, cedar, light tobacco, and crushed stone. Fruit stays fresh and pure with delicate floral lift typical of the appellation.

Mouthfeel
Medium-plus body with polished, fine-grained tannins. Dry, linear, and elegant rather than powerful. Balanced acidity keeps everything lifted and graceful with a clean, savory finish.

Food Pairings
Roast chicken with herbs, grilled lamb chops, duck breast, mushroom risotto, lentils, Comté or aged goat cheese. A very food-friendly claret.

Verdict
Proof that Margaux elegance doesn’t require classified growth pricing. Refined, honest, and beautifully composed. Delicious now with air, but easily cellar-worthy for 6–10 years.

🍷 Personal Pick
This is my kind of “weekday Bordeaux”, structured yet graceful, polished without heaviness. The sort of bottle that quietly disappears over dinner because everything just clicks.

Did You Know?
La Tour de Bessan is run by Marie-Laure Lurton (of the Lurton family estates) and is known for crafting textbook, terroir-driven Margaux expressions that emphasize finesse over extraction. — 4 days ago

David Dorn

8.9

Solid value here — 13 days ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.3

1997 vintage. A nice surprise in a vintage that was not highly regarded. Today, the 1997 outshined the 2000 La Tour de Bessan. Wonderful tasting with Marie-Laure Lurton, who kindly opened older vintages of La Tour de Bessan and Villegeorge. Unfortunately the 1961 Villegeorge was corked but one could tell the structure of the wine,it should be great from a good bottle. — 7 months ago

Jay Kline

8.9

“Saint-Estèphe de Calon-Ségur” was the previous name of the third wine of Calon-Ségur, now known as “Le C de Calon-Ségur” (from 2019). The third wine of the estate is made with some of the younger vines and aged in thrice-used barrels for 16 months.

Popped and poured, enjoyed over the course of 90 minutes. The 2018 pours a deep ruby/purple color with an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of tart and ripe black fruits: black currant, blackberry, black cherry, tobacco, cocoa and soft baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium. This is a fairly easy wine to enjoy and has a more modern feel which serves it well for more early drinking. Drink now through 2028. — a year ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.1

Medium ruby , medium wide ruby rim , youthful colour . Quite open and fruit forward with quite high toned cassis , grafite tinged blackberry , and an earthy , dusty character . On the palate quite round and generous but well balanced , sweet blackberry, blackcurrant fruit with the grippy grafite tannins and enough freshness . Reasonable length sweet cassis , with a grafite and herbal tinged finish . Drinking well now , though obviously youthful , will probably to continue to show well over the next 10 years or so. At Hawksmoor , Liverpool , 18th Jan 2026 — 13 days ago

Sarah Bignami

9.0

Very good but kind of plump. A crowd of oenophiles and normies all preferred the 2016 by a lot. — a month ago

with Chris

Stefan Dolhain

9.1

This is Château Hauchecorne,named after a previous owner. When Philippe Ferrier bought Château Duplessis from Marie-Laure Lurton (who wanted to concentrate on the excellent Villegeorge and La Tour de Bessan) in 2015, he decided to vinify these vineyards (Garbejac and Morère) separately. Therefore, Hauchecorne is not to be confounded with the second wine of Duplessis, named "Esprit de Duplessis". Merlot and Cabernet Franc according to the back label. Solid dark red colour. Juicy red fruits,with a nice tannic bite. Can be enjoyed young with food, but I expect this to age well up to a decade. Another great Bordeaux value. Abv 14%. — 3 months ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.2

2011 vintage. A bit more power compared to La Tour de Bessan 2011, and I believe Villegeorge will make older bones. — 7 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I haven’t had a Bordeaux in a while. Especially, with a Ribcap. So, why not an 82? The vintage Robert Parker made his career as the only critic who called it correctly.

Very good 80’s Bordeaux were my first true wine love. Their style & 12-13% ABV will always be my cherished infatuation. Wished it had never changed.

Bought this Calon Segur on the secondary market several yrs ago. Tricky cork. Used my Durand. All good. Fill line perfect, no bottle neck tannin burn but plenty of velvety sediment.

If any of you ever wondered why there is a heart on the label. Here is the interesting reason…

It symbolizes the estate's deep-rooted history and the affection of its former owner, the Marquis de Ségur. Despite owning prestigious estates like Château Lafite and Château Latour, he famously declared, "I make wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is at Calon." His sentiment is immortalized by the heart emblem on the label.

Opened it and let it breathe from the bottle for 45 minutes. Tasted it and decanting it in stages. Then, stopped 1/2 way through and poured the bottom half of the bottle from the bottle.

82 is such a grand, classic vintage. For the most part, I drink Calon Segur’s too early, even at 20 yrs of age. I don’t want to say it is a long in tooth as its neighbor, Montrose, but it is close. This 82 is drinking perfectly w/ 41 yrs in bottle and will hold another 5 yrs. Such soft, perfectly darkish spices with elegantly ripe fruits.

This 82 glides over the palate. There is only beautiful elegance, nothing bites back. The fruits are older (not old or past their prime), ripe fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, both plums but lean plum vs black, dark cherries, crazy, outstanding, hoovering raspberries with notes of blueberries & shades of freshly picked rhubarb. Some black cherry cola, anise to understated black licorice, dark chocolate pudding, caramel, layered, gentle baking spices-nutmeg, clove, cinnamon & vanillin, touch of sun tea, old leather, dryish to fresh tobacco w/ash, charcoal, elegant graphite, dry limestone powder, dry river pebbles, black, rich earth w/ dry leaves, magical, dark spices, grey volcanics, dry stems, just a hint of dry herbs, dry top soil, fresh & withering dark, red flowers, red roses, grand acidity with perfect; balance, tension, structure and a grand, gentle finish that goes on & on and eventually lands on an amazing soft buffet of earthiness.

This is a wine that is technically a 94, but w/ evolution & style a 97. Amazing bottle that you don’t want to end.

$500 a bottle today through the app. Somewhere around $10 upon release. — a month ago

Stefan Dolhain

8.9

2021 vintage. Uncomplicated,juicy,fresh unoaked Margaux. — 7 months ago