We read a lot of complaints on good Bordeaux becoming inaccessible and the rest being boring. Well, this one is accessible, if not exactly cheap (c.€30 - $40), but it is far from boring and, if recent vintages turn out to be as good as this, there is no cause here to complain. There are other crus bougeois of similar quality; Poujeaux, Chasse-Spleen and Labégorce-Zédé spring immediately to mind and some of the lesser grands crus lie in a similar price range.
Château Phélan Ségur – Saint-Estèphe cru bougeois – 1996 - X. Gardinier – Alc.12.5% - (approx.€30 for current vintages); varietal content 55% Cabernet-Sauvignon and 45% Merlot currently. Colour was still a quite youthful deep red with little bricking, the nose showed lively aromas of sour cassis with touches of typical médocain tang (which a lot of over-ripe Cabs lack) and wet leather and the palate was medium bodied, nicely shaped with a gentle crescendo and quite long with still fresh red and dark fruit, lively acidity and quite firm but nicely matured tannins towards the finish. We emptied the bottle hardly realising it; 17/20.