Château Calon-Ségur is a troisièmes cru classé estate in St-Estéphe and is the northernmost of all the cru classé estates.  

Calon dates back to the Gallo-Roman era. Its name comes from “calones”, which referred to small crafts navigating on the Gironde’s estuary.  Wine production can be traced back to the 12th century, but it was in the 18th century, with the Marquis Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur, also owner of Latour, Lafite and Mouton, that the name came to prominence.

The Marquis de Ségur and son of Alexandre expanded his family estates with the acquisition of Mouton. At this point in time, with the exception of Château Margaux, all the future first growths of the Médoc were now in his ownership.  Louis XV nicknamed him the Prince of Vines. In an early nod to the importance of terroir, each button of his jacket was a pebble from his vineyard.

Despite his embarrassment of First Growth estates, Ségur placed Calon foremost in his affections:  "I make wine at Lafite and at Latour, but my heart is at Calon". In the nineteenth century, his words were commemorated by the engraving of a heart in the stonework of the château, later becoming an emblem on the label.

Calon and it’s next-door neighbour Capbern were owned by the aristocratic Gasqueton family until 2012, when the Suravenir insurance company purchased them.  The château and estate have been extensively renovated and the wine has shot up through the ranks, now nearing in quality the First Growth estates which were once owned by Ségur. The estate has been managed by Vincent Millet since 2006.

Calon’s terroir is unique.  The highest point is only 13 metres of but the sharp relief of its slopes allows for good drainage.  Deep gravel layers deposited by the river during the quaternary era cover a largely clay sub-soil.  The top-soil is made up of a thin layer of clay of lacustrine origin.  This combination of gravels and clay, among other factors, explains the power and finesse of the wine.  The vineyard is formed by three gravel outcrops that protrude towards the estuary.

Éric Boissenot is the consultant. The 55 ha estate is planted with 50 ha of vines: 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 2 % Petit Verdot, averaging 21 years of age, at density of 8,000 vines/ha, yielding an average of 45hl/ha.  The wine is aged for 18 to 20 months in 100% new barrels.  Around 80,000 bottles are produced.

Château Capbern (known as Capbern-Gasqueton until 2014) is an estate in Saint-Estèphe, formerly a Cru Bourgeois until it opted out of the classification.  A long-standing favourite (we have been drinking and enjoying the 2011 of late), Capbern is also an estate well on its way to ascending into a different league of winemaking, first under Laurent Dufau and, since 2020, under Vincent Millet.

Dufau and Millet are credited with the rapid progress made at Calon-Ségur, under the same ownership as Capbern since 2012.  Calon is challenging Montrose and Cos d'Estournel as the leading wines of Saint-Estèphe and each new vintage of Capbern shows some of this ambition too.  The 33 hectares of vines are hand-harvested and the wine is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, aged for 18 months in 60% new oak barrels.