Château Rauzan Ségla - Margaux 1996

Après un hiver doux et humide, la floraison se passe dans de bonnes conditions fin mai. Les mois de juillet et août sont chauds permettant ainsi une bonne maturation des raisins. Le mois de septembre, quant à lui, est chaud et sec avec des nuits fraîches favorisant ainsi une belle concentration.
Vinification: Durée des fermentations de 5 à 8 jours. Deux remontages quotidiens d'un fois 1/2 à 2 fois le volume de la cuve. Température maintenu à 30°C pendant 8 à 10 jours à puis 25°C jusqu'à l'écoulage.
Cuvaison: Merlot 19 à 24 jours, Cabernet Sauvignon 21 à 26 jours.
Fermtation malolactique : Ecoulages à 25° pour les fermentations malolactiques, qui se sont déroulées snas difficulté et très rapidement (terminées au 10 novembre).
Elevage : Totalité des lots en barriques à la date du 17 novembre. 60% de barriques neuves.

Wine Advocate

88 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe4/30/1999

The dense, ruby/purple-colored, unfriendly-styled 1996 is tannic, backward, and in need of 8-10 years of cellaring. The wine does seem to possess the requisite fruit and extract, however, to stand up to its powerful structure. Although pure and rich, this wine should not be touched for at least a decade. The sweet cassis aromas of this Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated wine are combined with floral and mineral notes. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025.

Wine Spectator

90 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe1/31/1999

Looks seriously good, with a dark color, and smells seriously good, with raspberry and vanilla character on the nose, but lacks some concentration on the palate. Medium- to full-bodied, adding firm and silky tannins. Lots of wood, but should mellow with age. Best after 2002. 8,750 cases made.

Wine Advocate

88-90 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe2/28/1998

The dense purple-colored 1996 Rauzan-Segla reveals a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated nose of cigar box, cassis, floral, and vanillin scents. Long, structured, tannic, and closed, with formidable power and muscle, and potentially outstanding purity and richness, this wine requires 10-12 years of cellaring. If it continues to flesh out and attain better balance between the tannin and fruit, this will be an outstanding effort from this estate. However, potential purchasers should have the discipline to wait a decade or more for it to reach its plateau of maturity. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2027.

Wine Advocate

89-91 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe4/30/1997

Rauzan-Segla, which harvested between September 24 and October 4, utilized 58% of the crop in the 1996 blend, which was composed of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. The wines from this estate tend to be extremely backward, and older vintages have the potential to be very long-lived (100+ years). While today's vintages do not have quite that longevity, this is one of the more classic vin de garde terroirs of the region. The 1996 appears to be an outstanding wine, but perhaps slightly below the quality of the fleshier, more forward, intense 1995. The 1996 exhibits an opaque purple color, followed by a restrained, black fruit, earth, and toasty oak-scented nose, medium body, high tannin, and a sense of huge structure as well as outstanding depth. For a 1996, this wine contains one of the highest percentages of Merlot of any Medoc. It possesses 25-30 years of aging potential.