Château Phélan-Ségur: Vineyards
Château Phélan-Ségur sits on an extensive estate lying very close to the Gironde towards the north of the St Estèphe appellation. It lies on the very edge of the town of St Estèphe; on the other side of the town lies Château Calon-Ségur, while other near neighbours include, to the south, Château Meyney. Much of the estate is not currently planted with vines. This includes the grassed slope in front of the château, which is where the marquee is erected during Vinexpo and other events. As managing director Véronique Dausse once old me, “we like to party”, and this takes priority over the small gain that would be achieved by planting this slope with vines.
The most recent major change in the vineyards was the aforementioned sale, in 2010, of 22 hectares of vines to the Bouygues brothers of Château Montrose. The plot sold was the lieu-dit of Fonpetite, which was originally a part of the Montrose estate. The sale netted then-proprietor Thierry Gardinier a cool €900,000 per hectare, a new record for land valuation within the St Estèphe commune, and it reduced the Château Phelan-Ségur vineyard from more than 90 to 70 hectares.
