Château Fonroque - Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé 2010
NZD$160.00
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Château Fonroque - Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé 2010
" The nose is elegant and offers subtleness, a beautiful fine grain and complexity. It reveals notes of dry blackberry, small ripe black fruits, small notes of Sichuan pepper associated with touches of crushed black plum, crushed/very ripe strawberry as well as varietal hints, flowers and a subtle hint of liquorice.
The palate is fresh, fruity, juicy, well-balanced and offers a beautiful definition, a beautiful quite ripe fruit, precision as well as a fine grain and an aromatic purity. On the palate this wine expresses notes of pulpy/juicy blackberry, fleshy/juicy cassis, small notes of quite ripe small black fruits associated with small touches of cornflower, violet, small fleshy/juicy blue fruits as well as hints of mild tobacco, liquorice stick, spices/cloves and an imperceptible hint of underwood.
Good length. Sapidity in the finish."
--------THE PRODUCER--------
Château Fonroque
Chateau Fonroque was purchased by the Moueix family in 1931. Jean Moueix liked the Bordeaux wine property so much, he lived at the estate. After his death Fonroque was run by the son Jean-Antoine Moueix. Eventually, the property joined several other Right Bank wineries and came to be managed by Ets. Jean-Pierre Moueix. This happened in 1979.
In 2001, Alain Moueix took charge of the vineyard. Alain Moueix also manages the Pomerol estate, Château Mazeyres. (He also used to own Chateau Moulin du Cadet).
Things changed at Chateau Fonroque once Alain Moueix took charge. He shared ownership of the vineyards with Claude Curant and Jeanne-Andre Curat, his aunt and uncle.
More importantly, he was responsible for instigating a new method of farming. In 2002, the Saint Émilion estate began experimenting with biodynamic farming techniques on select parcels in their vineyards. Chateau Fonroque was clearly one of the first estates in the entire Bordeaux region to begin using organic farming methods.
In 2005, Alain Moueix and Chateau Fonroque became early members of the Syndicat de Vignerons en Biodynamie. By 2005, the estate became one of the first vineyards in Bordeaux to embrace using biodynamic farming techniques.
This earned Fonroque their certificate of Biodyvin from Ecocerts. Starting with the 2008 Bordeaux harvest, Chateau Fonroque shifted to 100% biodynamic viticulture practices for their vineyard management techniques. In August 2017, Chateau Fonroque changed hands when it was sold to Hubert Guillard.
Hubert Guillard earned his fortune with an insurance company he founded, CHG Participation. The new owners have plans to update the chateau and the wine cellars with a complete renovation and modernization of the estate. The cellars are now entirely gravity fed into a range of smaller vats sized which allow for a parcel by parcel vinification.
Chateau Fonroque Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking
The 20-hectare vineyard of Fonroque is planted to 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The vineyard is in 1 large block, which is not common with a vineyard of this size on the Right Bank. The vineyard is divided into 30 separate parcels, with the majority of vines being planted close to the chateau. The terroir is clay, limestone, and sand soils. There is more limestone at the peak elevations here.
Prior to the era of Alain Moueix, the estate had a much higher percentage of Cabernet Franc in the vineyards. But over the years, they have added more Merlot vines and reduced the amount of Cabernet Franc in the vineyards. On average the vines are maintained at 30 years of age.
Vinification for Chateau Fonroque takes place in traditional, temperature-controlled, cement vats. The wines are aged in a combination of 40% new French oak and 40% one-year-old, French oak barrels. The other 20% of the wine is aged in vat for 14 to 18 months before bottling.
--------THE GRAPE--------
Bordeaux Blend
The right bank of Bordeaux tends to be more dominated by merlot grapes. This wine's blend is: 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc.
--------THE REGION--------
The Right Bank
The Right Bank is the area to the north of the Dordogne in Bordeaux, rather than to the south of the Garonne (this is the Left Bank) or Entre-deux-Mers (the area between the two rivers). While not nearly as famous or versatile as the Left Bank, the Right Bank is important for two essential appellations that lie within it: St-Émilion and Pomerol. The prominently Merlot-based Right Bank wines can, at the top levels, match or, by some opinions, exceed, Left Bank reds in both quality and price. Lighter, smoother styles of red wine are produced on the Right Bank, as opposed to the layered, intense, and complex wines of the Left Bank. While houses such as Petrus still produce very sophisticated wine, it is of an entirely different style. This is primarily due to the use of Merlot in most Right Bank wines. Cabernet Sauvignon hardly thrives on the Right Bank, and rarely makes up more than a few percent of plantings at Right Bank châteaux.
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