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Chateau Rauzan-Ségla |
| Newstime：2009-08-04 09:12:41 Befrom： Writer： |
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History
The Noble House of Gassies – owned by the de Gascq family - was purchased by Pierre Desmezures de Rauzan – a successful bourgeois established in Bordeaux - on September 7th 1661. This great Bordeaux wine merchant then gave his own family name to his newly acquired Margaux estate. At that time, Pierre de Rauzan was already the “fermier” (manager) of Château Margaux (where he remained in charge until 1663), and later on, from 1679 to 1692, he had the same responsibilities at Château Latour.At the end of the 17th century, the Rauzan estate was approximately 40 hectares – a major size for this time. Upon Pierre de Rauzan’s death on May 10th 1692, his younger daughter Thérèse inherited the vineyard in Pauillac – the future Pichon Longueville estate - and his three sons shared the holdings in Margaux. Several subsequent generations of the Rauzan family produced Counsellors to the Parliament of Bordeaux during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI. Throughout this period, the estate was substantially increased and the reputation of its wine grew to a remarkable degree.It appears that the future division between Rauzan-Ségla and Rauzan-Gassies actually started at the beginning of the 18th century, as the second brother – who was called Sieur de Gassies - had apparently his wine made separately from his two brothers’. This division continued with the following generations and became official with a document signed on April 24th 1763 between Jean Baptiste de Rauzan and Mr Jean Roulier (Sieur de Gassies’s nephew and heir).The end of the 18th century was marked by two extraordinary women – Madame Marie-Anne de Briet and then her daughter, the Baroness of Ségla. Madame Marie-Anne de Briet had married Philippe Simon de Rauzan (Jean-Baptiste’s son) and, after 10 years, they split. As she wanted to secure her dowry, she started to claim her share of the estate, was even helped by her parents-in-law and finally got the management of the Rauzan estate in 1778. She appears to a very clever and smart business woman.By the end of the XVIII th century, the wines of Rauzan had acquired an outstanding reputation and were considered amongst the greatest crus; a belief endorsed by Thomas Jefferson, later President of the United States of America. He ordered 10 cases of Rauzan on September 6th 1790, after a previous journey Bordeaux in 1787 when he recorded Rauzan at the finest of the Second Growths. The colourful Madame de Rauzan, a lady of great character, was quite determined to obtain the highest possible price and standing for her wines. Though there was not an official classification, it was accepted amongst the Bordeaux Négociants that Second Growths should fetch three-quarters of the price for First Growths, (e.g. £1,500 against £2,000 for a tonneau of 900 litres). Madame Rauzan would only agree to a maximum reduction of £ 350 a tonneau and this determination brought her successful results. Her elder daughter Catherine, the only descendent bearing the family name, married Pierre Louis de Ségla in 1785, but sadly, her husband was assassinated during the 1789 Revolution. After her mother’s death in 1816, she inherited the Rauzan estate with her sister but she personally took care of its management. Madame de Rauzan-Ségla became sole owner of the Château in 1828, helped by her son-in-law, the Count of Castelpers until her death in 1847. The estate then remained for nearly 20 years in her heirs’ hands. Château Rauzan-Ségla’s wines were indisputably acknowledged as second only to those of Château Margaux in the commune and in 1855, their excellent reputation was officially recognised when it was placed at the top of a short list of the finest Médoc Second Growths – number two, right after Mouton Rothschild.
In 1866, after belonging to the same family for two centuries, Château Rauzan-Ségla was sold to Mr Eugène Durand-Dassier, a minister of the Reformed Church and a Senator, for 730 000 Francs. Under the management of the Durand-Dassier family, the excellent reputation of Rauzan-Ségla continued. Production increased considerably and its prices were frequently as high as those of the First Growths were. By now, the wines of Rauzan-Ségla were being exported worldwide. In 1903, Frédéric Cruse, son-in-law of the Senator Durand-Dassier, took over the management of the estate and built the present château to replace the old Chartreuse-style building, which had stood on the ruins of the original Great House. The new house was built in 1904 by the architect Louis Garros and the park designed by the landscape gardener, G. Le Breton.
The wine’s quality remained of a high standard but, following the major economical crisis of the 1930s, vines actually in production were reduced to around 20 hectares by 1937. In December 1956, when the property was purchased by Mr de Meslon, a farmer from Bergerac, little had changed for 25 years and moreover a lot of vines had been destroyed in February 1956 by the coldest winter ever registered in the Médoc . The vineyard needed replanting and many of the vats were in poor condition. The shrewd Mr de Meslon quickly drew up a programme of replanting and brought in mechanization – the first four tractors were purchased in 1957. As the wine’s quality and the interest in the château increased again, Mr de Meslon could easily sell Château Rauzan-Ségla in February 1960 to a shipping company from Liverpool, John Holt Ltd. In 1983, the company hired Mr Jacques Théo as General Manager and Mr Emile Peynaud as consulting oenologist. In 1986, a modern winery – 20 new stainless steel vats - and a new maturation cellar were built. Château Rauzan-Ségla benefited from these huge investments for a few years before some financial problems hit its mother company again.
CHANEL purchased Château Rauzan-Ségla in April 1994 and immediately started a full renovation programme. The vineyard has been drained – a 15-kilometer network is now in place, 2 parcels of Petit Verdot were planted and 3 hectares of vines were grafted over with Merlot. Today, 51 hectares are in production for an average total production of 200 000 bottles – Château Rauzan-Ségla and its second wine Ségla. The winery has been adapted and large vats progressively replaced by smaller capacities – matching the parcels’ sizes. From the 2004 picking on, grapes will be sorted on two 10-meter long vibrating tables, so that each single berry is checked before entering the vats. Maturation cellars have been completely renovated and a new room built for the bottling-labelling machines –making Château Rauzan-Ségla fully independent for the entire production process. And thanks to a renovation carefully carried out according to the original plans of 1904, the Château itself looks again as it used to one century ago. After an existence of three centuries and a half, Château Rauzan-Ségla has now gained all the required assets to remain true to its reputation.
Nowadays’ Owner: Chanel
General Manager: John Kolasa
Technique Information
Location: Chateau Rauzan-Segla is in the commune of Margaux.
Appellation: Appellation Margaux Controlee
Neighboring Chateau: Chateau Rauzan-Gassies (2nd Growth of Margaux in1855)
Acreage: 52 hectares (+/- 120 acres)
Soil: Deep, fine gravel. Layers of clay at different levels.
Grape Varieties: Cabernet sauvignon 54%, Petit Verdot 4%, Merlot 41% and Cabernet franc 1%
Average age of vines: 27 years (certain plots are over 50 years old)Average age of vines: 27 years (certain plots are over 50 years old)
Cultivation density: 6 600 to 10 000 vines plants per hectare. As we are replanting, all plots will have, in the future, a density of 10 000 vines per hectare
Viticulture: Painstaking soil preparation, pruning to control each individual vine, green harvesting in summer to regulate yield, and leaf-removal to ensure that the fruit ripens evenly and healthily. In July, where necessary, generally in younger vines. A first passage during crop thining and second main passage at the end of August or beginning of September depending on the progress of the ripening.
Winemaking: The grapes are picked by hand and placed in trays, which are then taken directly to the vat house for sorting there. They are emptied onto the first vibrating sorting table where any bunches which are not perfectly healthy are discarded by hand. After destemming, a second vibrating table is used to check the grapes and remove all unwanted parts of stalks. Following this, the fruit is carefully crushed before being delivered to the tanks by gravity-flow. Alcoholic fermentation can then begin. Each vine plot can thus be vinified separately in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Alcoholic fermentation will last for 6 to 8 days, with daily pumping over (2 or 3 times), Maceration will last 12 to 20 days.
Yield: +/- 45 hl/ha
Brand: Château Rauzan-Ségla(First Label)(A.O.C Margaux.)
Ségla(Second Label)(A.O.C Margaux)
Annually production: Château Rauzan- Ségla(First Label): Approximately 10,000 cases
Ségla(Second Label): 10,000 cases
Character:
The wines of Chateau Rauzan-Segla express, first and foremost, the internationally recognized characteristics of the Margaux terroir: an elegant, fragrant bouquet, lots of taste on the palate, a well-balanced structure and very great elegance. But beyond these recognizable features, there is the individual signature of the Chateau. A deep robe with a sparkle of the future, a texture that is velvet smooth, an elegant palate on which the characteristics of the grapes burst forth, together with touches of violet in some vintages…
Best vintages: 1995, 2000, 2005, 2006
Awards: Château Rauzan-Ségla was classified as Second Cru Class in 1855.
Website: www.rauzan-segla.com
Serving Suggestion
Cellar Humidity and Temperature: 75-85%，15℃
Serving Temperature: 17℃-19℃.
Optimum drinking: 10-25 years
Ageing potential: 10-50 years
Food match:
A perfect complement to lamb, veal, poultry and delicate game. Serve with full flavored foods when the wine is younger. Cuts of beef that are individually grilled and left a bit rarer than normal are a perfect choice if the wine is less than 15 years old. If the wine is more mature, serve it with lamb or beef that is cooked as a roast and not in individual servings. If serving beef, make it less rare than with a younger wine.
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