This is an interesting wine. It's been about four years since I tried it, and it was tight and tannic then. It's loosened a bit but it' still has an edge. It needed an hour to open, after which it had nice fruit and acidity with plenty of tang and tannins. This is a good bottle now, but I think it still needs more time. Perhaps another few years? Rating it as it is today, but I expect it will get better with a bit more time to mellow and will improve by a few points. Color is deep purple, nose was reticent but opened up with time to have a bit of musk, some raisin and some plum and maybe a bit of camphor or something a tad astringent. All around, a good wine, just a little frustrated it's not ready after 17 years! Plenty of tannins to last though...

Consumed in Bonnie home. Tasted along with 2001. I like 2001 better. As I have said many times since I first tasted this wine, the 1995 Calon-Segur is one of the great sleepers of the vintage (I bought the wine as a future for a mere $250 a case). The wine has closed down completely since bottling, but it is a sensational effort that may ultimately merit an even higher score. The wine is opaque purple-colored. With coaxing, the tight aromatics reveal some weedy cassis intertwined with truffles, chocolate, and beef blood-like aromas. On the palate, there is an element of sur-maturite (1995 was an extremely late harvest at Calon-Segur), fabulous density and purity, and a boatload of tannin. This deep, broodingly backward, classic Bordeaux will require a decade of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2035.

Medium ruby with narrow garnet rim. Intense, developing aromas, with somewhat coarse tannins on the palate. Not a lot of fun without food. The fruit may outlast the tannins, so another few years of bottle age could be in order.

Drinking beautifully. Give it a couple of hours to breath. Very balanced, nicely integrated tannins, I would say another 5+ years before it starts to lose anything, not 20