With the western world cosying up for Valentine's Day, we thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at the estate that stole the heart of the "Prince des Vignes" in the 18th century. The Marquis Nicolas de Segur, who owned several of Bordeaux's most revered chateaux, famously proclaimed, "I make my wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is in Calon."
The most northerly of the Medoc Grands Crus, Calon Segur is a Third Growth that enjoys a strong consumer following. Though the wines have received high scores from the critics, many younger vintages remain within reach of both drinkers and investors at around £400 per case. With traders increasingly turning to more affordable, lower-ranking Crus Classes, it is, perhaps, no surprise that vintages from 2000 onwards have outpaced the market and risen by an average of 13 per cent year on year.
Despite their recent run, the wines continue to offer value for money. On a pounds-per-point basis (see explanation below), the 2004 is the most compelling buy. The vintage has gained 14 per cent in the last year and – at just £380 per case – boasts 17.5 points from Jancis Robinson.
The table below shows the current price, annual change, score and POP (price-over-points) ratio of vintages 2000 to 2010. Trading members of Liv-ex can view live markets here.
*All prices are for 12x75cl cases stored in bond. Scores are from Jancisrobinson.com.
POP
A wine’s POP score is its price-over-points ratio – our loose measure of value. It is calculated by dividing the price of a nine-litre case of wine by a 20-point score. In theory, the lower the POP score, the better value the wine is.
