Bernard Phelan came to Bordeaux from Ireland in 1805, married into the wine trade and bought the land at Saint-Estèphe that still carries his name. The Delon family owned the property through the 1970s, well before the thorough renovation Xavier Gardinier began in 1985, so this is the older and quieter Phélan Ségur.
Saint-Estèphe is the northernmost of the Médoc communes, with more clay in its soils than Pauillac and a reputation for firm, slow-opening wines. Phélan sits on the riverside slope alongside Calon-Ségur and Montrose, and even in its unfashionable decades it made proper claret in that mould: dark, dry-edged, built for the cellar rather than for showing off young.
1971 was a modest-sized harvest of good quality, overshadowed at the time by the enormous 1970 and now considerably harder to find than it. As a gift this is an unshowy bottle, and it is better for it.
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Producer: Château Phélan Ségur
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Vintage: 1971
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Appellation: Saint-Estèphe AOC
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Format: 75cl
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Region: Bordeaux, France
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Style: Red
Where it is likely to be now. Saint-Estèphe's firmness helps at this age, but a cru bourgeois from 1971 will be fully mature and light, and should be opened without any expectation of power.
Who it suits. Well suited to a fifty-fifth birthday for someone who likes an understated gift, and to anyone with Irish connections given who founded the estate.
Condition. Recorded as good, with no issue flagged on the label, the capsule or the wine level.
Provenance. Bought to order from a professional European merchant. We check fill, label and capsule when the bottle reaches us and photograph it before it ships.
Delivered in 7 to 10 working days, tracked. Transit cover can be added at checkout.
Sold as a collectible item, as seen. No guarantee is given on drinkability.
