Château Calon-Ségur is a

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

in the Saint-Estèphe

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

of the

Bordeaux wine Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The wine produced here was classified as one of fourteen ''Troisièmes Crus Classés'' (Third Growths) in the historic

Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines that were to be on display for visitors from ...

.Karen MacNeil, ''The Wine Bible'', Workman Publishing, 2001, p.885, It is the northernmost classified growth in the

Médoc The Médoc (; oc, label= Gascon, Medòc ) is a region of France, well known as a wine growing region, located in the ''département'' of Gironde, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, north of Bordeaux. Its name comes from ''(Pagus) Medull ...

History

"''Calon''", meaning a little river

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have devel ...

used in the Middle Ages to ferry timber across the

Gironde estuary The Gironde estuary ( , US usually ; french: estuaire de la Gironde, ; oc, estuari de aGironda, ) is a navigable estuary (though often referred to as a river) in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Gar ...

, gave the name to this district which was at one point known as Calones or Saint-Estèphe-de-Calon. In early times, Château Calon-Ségur was one of the original three vineyards in Saint-Estèphe and, in 1825, Château Montrose (in 1855 classified as a Second Growth) was a forest-land parcel belonging to the Calon-Ségur estate. By marriage, the estate came to be owned by

Nicolas-Alexandre, marquis de Ségur Nicolas-Alexandre, marquis de Ségur (1695–1755) was a Bordeaux wine maker who during his lifetime was known as the "Prince of Vines" due to his ownership of some of the most famous Bordeaux chateaus-including Château Lafite, Château Latour, Ch ...

who also owned Chateau Latour and Chateau Lafite. Despite his ownership of these two

First Growth First Growth (french: Premier Cru) status is a classification of wines primarily from the Bordeaux region of France. The best of the best wines were assigned the highest rank of Premier Cru; only five wines, Château Lafite Rothschild, Châtea ...

s, the Marquis said that "I make wine at Lafitte and Latour but my heart is at Calon Segur." The wine's label today includes a drawing of a heart around the Chateau's name.H. Johnson & J. Robinson, ''The World Atlas of Wine'', p.88, Mitchell Beazley Publishing, 2005, Kissack, Chris, thewinedoctor.co
Chateau Calon-Ségur
/ref> In the modern era, the estate has been owned by the Capbern Gasqueton family since 1894. After Mme Capbern-Gasqueton's death, it was sold in 2012 to Suravenir Assurances, an insurance company. Chinese winemaker

Emma Gao Emma Gao is a Chinese oenologist, who is the chief winemaker at Silver Heights winery, one of China's most prestigious vineyards. Biography Born in China, Gao moved to France in 1999, aged 21, to study oenology at the University of Bordeaux, wh ...

trained at the chateau, where she met her future husband, winemaker Thierry Courtade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calon-Segur, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers