Chateau Haut Segottes, Saint-Emilion, France 2020
The Château Haut-Ségottes is owned and operated by Danielle Meunier. Mme. Meunier, “vigneronne extraordinaire”, is the fourth generation of her family to oversee this nine hectare estate situated in the heart of the Saint Emilion appellation. Mme. Meunier’s great-grandfather purchased the estate around 1860 and had earned gold medals for his wine as early as 1912 at the Concours Agricole in Paris. In 1959, the estate began to bottle its wine in earnest. In 1972 Madame Meunier took the reins of production and we can proudly stake our claim as one of her first and most loyal clients: we have been purchasing her wines since the 1977 vintage. The 9 hectares Château Haut-Segottes are all planted within the St. Emilion Grand Cru appellation. The vineyards are planted 60% to Merlot, 35% to Cabernet Franc, and 5% to Cabernet Sauvignon. The position of the vineyards within the appellation is outstanding. Parcels are found within the “lieu-dits” of Fortin (across from La Dominique and 300 meters from Cheval Blanc); Chauvin; and the highly regarded “Plateau de Corbin”.
Tradition reigns at Château Haut-Segottes. Harvest is manual; fermentation takes place in cuve; wines are rotated into barrel for an élevage of 18 months; approximately 20% of the barrels are new; wines are bottled unfiltered. Although the majority of the vineyards are planted to Merlot, the ultimate cuvée bottled as Saint-Émilion Grand Cru features a majority of Cabernet Franc. This dominance of Cabernet Franc, frequently on the order of 65%, produces a wine of considerable structure and is exceptionally age-worthy.