Recently, it seems that I've been drinking wines from every other region except Bordeaux. It is though one of the best regions in the wine world, if not the best, so as I was planning my dinner last weekend, I made it a point to pull a bottle of Bordeaux for dinner.

As I was searching the wine fridge for the perfect Bordeaux, I stumbled upon one of my favorite Chateaux - Calon Segur. Two of the best wines I've ever had were a '61 and '82 Calon Segur, but that's beside the point as I have neither vintage in my fridge! The bottle I did have was from the '03 vintage, which as you may remember was an extremely hot year in Bordeaux, so it wasn't a smash hit across the board. There were probably 20-25 Chateaux that made some spectacular wine, but due to the heat, production was down 30-40 %. Calon Segur was definitely one of the winners from the vintage, as it received 94 points from Robert Parker & 95 points from Wine Spectator.

Calon Segur is a third growth from St. Estephe & is made up primarily of the Cabernet grape & the rest Merlot. It's usually a 60/40 blend & the high percentage of Merlot definitely helps soften the wine & leads it to early drinkability. The Cabernet though is what saved it in the '03 vintage, as a lot of the wines produced primarily with the Merlot grape were not very good due to the high heat. 

As I was prepping the lamb chops for dinner, I pulled the cork & decanted. Immediately, I got a sweet ripe nose with a spectrum of black fruits & hints of oak & licorice. A couple swirls in the decanter brought out more ripe sweet fruit & hints of truffles. YUM! Needless to say, I was very excited to try this wine. 

As I waited patiently for the lamb chops to finish up in the oven, I decided to pour myself a little glass to see where it was at after 30 minutes in the decanter. It still had a nose of big, ripe black fruits, & I got hints of cherries as well. In the mouth was a beautiful plush wine that danced the line of being soft, yet had enough power to linger for minutes on the finish. It was very full-bodied and just starting to open up.

FINALLY! Ding the chops are done, and it's time to get down to business. At this point, the wine has been decanted for about an hour, and I'm excited to see how it pairs with lamb chops. Still very plush & lots of ripe fruit, but it's powerful enough & concentrated that it pairs perfectly with gamey flavor of the lamb. Each sip gets better & better.

The '03 Calon Segur was a great way to get reintroduced to the Bordeaux region, and I highly recommend it for lovers of amazing wine.  Also, at $109 a bottle, it's priced like a California Cabernet, but delivers a lot more. Still plenty of life left to this beauty, so if you are missing a great drinking Bordeaux that can age for 20+ years & won't break the bank, then '03 Calon Segur is your answer.