Rauzan-Ségla's history began in 1661, during the reign of Louis the 14th, when the estate was acquired by Pierre Desmezures de Rauzan. It already covered over 40 hectares at the time. The château stayed in the Rauzan family for over two centuries.

The wine's reputation was great by the end of the 18th century, and it was long considered the best in the commune after Château Margaux. Rauzan-Ségla was classified a second growth in 1855.

The present winery was built in 1903 by Frédéric Cruse. However, he was forced to sell the estate in 1956. Rauzan-Ségla had several owners over the following thirty years, which unfortunately had a negative effect on quality.

In 1994, Chanel purchased the château, which marked the beginning of a renaissance. New drainage was put in at great expense while the vat room and château itself were completely renovated. John Kolasa was appointed estate manager with instructions to do everything possible to restore the château's former glory.

The 52 hectares of vines are located on the outskirts of the town of Margaux. They have fine sun exposure and deep, fine, gravel soil.

Every vineyard plot is treated differently according to grape variety, terroir, and ripening potential. The vineyard is meticulously tended and yields are kept low with green harvesting in summer. Even ripening is encouraged with leaf thinning. The main philosophy at Rauzan-Ségla is that man must adapt to nature, and not the reverse. Everything possible is done to respect the environment. Chemical sprays are used sparingly, and their use is carefully timed for maximum efficiency.

The grapes are picked by hand and put into small crates so as not to bruise them before they arrive at the cellar. They are carefully sorted twice to remove any matter other than grapes or fruit that is not perfectly ripe and healthy. The grapes are delicately crushed and put into vat via gravity flow prior to alcoholic fermentation.

Wine from different plots is kept separate in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks holding from 40 to 220 hectoliters. Fermentation is traditional, with pumping over twice a day during the two or three weeks the wine stays on the skins. Malolactic fermentation also takes place in vat.

John Kolasa and his team decide on the final blend at tastings during the spring after the vintage. The full-scale blending tales place in a single, impressively large (884 hl) vat. The wine is then aged in barrel (50-70% new oak every year) for 14-18 months and racked every 3 months. It is fined with egg white for natural clarification several months before bottling. Rauzan-Segla uses barrels from seven different coopers to adjust the profile of wine in each vintage.

In the Bottle

Since the Chanel purchase in 1994, John Kolasa has done his utmost to bring Rauzan-Ségla back to forefront of Médoc châteaux. The results have been encouraging over the past decade, and the estate once again displays the elegance of a great Margaux. Rauzan-Ségla is frequently better than the average for wines in the appellation.

Wine lovers would do well to try the wonderful 2005 Rauzan-Segla, a truly refined Margaux, both powerful and delicate. Other recent successes include 2002 (good value for money), 2001, and 2000 Rauzan Segla. Despite the vintage's so-so reputation, 2007 Rauzan-Ségla is one of the estate's finest efforts since the Chanel takeover, and will reach its peak in the next 10-15 years. In terms of older vintages, 1983, 85, 86, and 89 Rauzan-Segla, made by the previous team, are very good.

All in all, Rauzan-Ségla has offered dependably good quality over the past decade.

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Rauzan-Ségla, Ségla (second wine)