Château Rauzan-Ségla 2004

Bettane et Desseauve

Tom Cannavan

Opaque, dark, but purple rim. Again a little minerality and a touch of schisty quality here. Very bold cassis fruit is ripe and pure, with a touch of floral lift and a little cedar. Smooth, composed, very elegant palate with a chocolaty concentration of cassis and plum fruit and a tooth-coating dry tannic structure. But the tannins are fine and supple, and the sweetness and depth of fruit persists through the mid-palate. This is a powerful wine, with good balance and already a nicely supportive framework of oak into the finish.

Wine Enthusiast

Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Deep garnet in color, the 2004 Rauzan-Ségla opens with slightly broody, muted notions of damp soil, scorched earth and charcoal with an emerging core of stewed plums, baked cherries and warm cassis plus hints of menthol, wild sage and dusty soil. Medium-bodied and elegantly style in the mouth, it has lovely freshness and an earthy core with well-played chewy tannins and a good, long finish. The blend this year is 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, harvested between September 30 and October 16 at an average yield of 52 hectoliters per hectare. It was aged for 18 months in French oak, 50% new. The alcohol is 13%.

Jeb Dunnuck

The 2004 Rauzan-Ségla showed well, and this has always been an understated, elegant vintage for Bordeaux. Notes of dried tobacco, lead pencil, currants, and macerated cherries all give way to a medium-bodied, fresh, fully mature 2004 that has notable elegance and purity. Drink it any time over the coming decade.