Château Fonréaud

92 Wine Advocate // 92 Vinous // 91 Wine Enthusiast // 90 James Suckling // 16.5 Jancis Robinson

A great Vintage

The months of May, June and July were among the hottest and driest on record, what favorized purity of the aromas. The flower took place very quickly on the beginning of June. Then, the ripening has been uniform from early August. Second half of August was a bit cooler and a few rains allowed the vines to get the energy they needed. In September, the grapes enjoyed sunny days and cool nights to finish ripening. The harvest of Merlot began on September 25thfor the earliest plants and lasted until September 28th. The homogeneity of maturity was remarkable. Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested between the 5th and the 8thof October, then Petit Verdot was picked up between the 7th andthe 8thof October.After a light crushing and de-stemming of the grapes, the harvest is directed to small temperature-controlled vats that allow full control of fermentations, thus respecting the expression, richness and nuances of each plot. Alcoholic fermentations were carried out by promoting the extraction of the fruit. The wines are very colorful, have a good structure with soft tannins foreshadowing.