Château Calon-Ségur

Château Calon-Ségur is a Third Growth (Troisième Cru Classé) of the 1855 Médoc classification, in Saint-Estèphe at the northern end of the appellation. The iconic heart on the label refers to Nicolas-Alexandre, marquis de Ségur, who also owned Lafite and Latour but famously said: "I make wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is at Calon." The Capbern-Gasqueton family owned the estate from 1894; Philippe Gasqueton ran it until his death in September 1995, after which his widow Denise Capbern-Gasqueton (née Agostini, born 1924) led the estate until her own death in September 2011. The property was sold in July 2012 to French insurer Suravenir Assurances for around 170 million euros - new ownership has funded substantial vineyard restructuring and cellar upgrades.

Around fifty-five hectares total, with roughly forty-five to fifty in production, planted approximately 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. Planting density currently sits at 8,000 vines per hectare, with plans to push to 10,000; the oldest vines (forty-five to sixty years) sit east of the château on the highest hilltops near the chapel, overlooking the Gironde, and a massal selection is underway from those parcels.

The lineup: grand vin Château Calon-Ségur; second wine Le Marquis de Calon Ségur (renamed from Marquis de Calon in 2012); third wine now sold as Le C de Calon Ségur, formerly La Chapelle de Calon and earlier Saint-Estèphe de Calon Ségur. Vincent Millet joined as technical director in 2006 - hired by Madame Gasqueton from Château Margaux's R&D team - and has driven the modern shift, pushing the Cabernet share in the grand vin toward 80% and new oak well into the high range. The pre-Millet era at Calon was widely framed as uneven across the trade; his arrival started the quality lift, and the 2012 Suravenir takeover accelerated it.