2007 Château de Fonbel, St Emilion, Bordeaux

2007 Château de Fonbel, St Emilion, Bordeaux

Product: 20071010237
 
2007 Château de Fonbel, St Emilion, Bordeaux

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Description

Made by the same team as the legendary Ch. Ausone it is hardly surprising that Fonbel's 2007 is so impressive. Made with 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot and 3% of the rarely seen Carmenère, the wine's pure nose of plums and smoky black fruit leads seamlessly into a dense yet finely textured palate of concentrated, cool blackberries and peppery spice. This classy, succulent wine is easily as good as many St Emilions double the price.

The grapes are fermemnted in stainless steel tanks before going into oak barrels for maturation, 30% new. The wine is bottled about 10 months later. In style it is fairly typical of many St Emilions of this class, but it benefits from the meticulous attention to detail which Alain Vauthier brings to all his wines, and this raises its quality above the norm, such that it represents one of the most under-valued wines in the area.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate85-89/100
Rated -No tasting note given.
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 30/04/2008 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW16/20
Carmenère 3%, Petit Verdot 7%, plus Merlot with Cabernet Franc. Very rich and round. Almost soupy but lots of bang for buck. Inky finish. Very dry. Very flattering. Lively. This could be a good buy.
Jancis Robinson - www.jancisrobinson.com - Apr 08
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Wine Gang90/100
How can a wine made by those at Château Ausone not fail to impress? Fleshy and meaty with intense earthy and truffle aromas, suggesting development. And yet on the palate it's vibrant and youthful with that same meatiness as well as fresh acidity and a broad plum-filled finish.
The Wine Gang, www.thewinegang.com, July 2011 Read more

About this WINE

Chateau de Fonbel

Chateau de Fonbel

Château de Fonbel is located in the Saint Emilion wine appellation and covers 16 hectares (39 acres) of vineyard. It is owned by Alain Vautier, proprietor of the celebrated Ch. Ausone and the highly regarded Ch. Moulin St. Georges.

Four grape varieties are grown for Château de Fonbel wine: Merlot (70%) dominates, supplemented by Cabernet Sauvignon (20%), Petit Verdot (7%) and Carmenere (3%). The wines are aged in 30% new oak barrels.

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St Émilion

St Émilion

St Émilion is one of Bordeaux's largest producing appellations, producing more wine than Listrac, Moulis, St Estèphe, Pauillac, St Julien and Margaux put together. St Emilion has been producing wine for longer than the Médoc but its lack of accessibility to Bordeaux's port and market-restricted exports to mainland Europe meant the region initially did not enjoy the commercial success that funded the great châteaux of the Left Bank. 

St Émilion itself is the prettiest of Bordeaux's wine towns, perched on top of the steep limestone slopes upon which many of the region's finest vineyards are situated. However, more than half of the appellation's vineyards lie on the plain between the town and the Dordogne River on sandy, alluvial soils with a sprinkling of gravel. 

Further diversity is added by a small, complex gravel bed to the north-east of the region on the border with Pomerol.  Atypically for St Émilion, this allows Cabernet Franc and, to a lesser extent, Cabernet Sauvignon to prosper and defines the personality of the great wines such as Ch. Cheval Blanc.  

In the early 1990s there was an explosion of experimentation and evolution, leading to the rise of the garagistes, producers of deeply-concentrated wines made in very small quantities and offered at high prices.  The appellation is also surrounded by four satellite appellations, Montagne, Lussac, Puisseguin and St. Georges, which enjoy a family similarity but not the complexity of the best wines.

St Émilion was first officially classified in 1954, and is the most meritocratic classification system in Bordeaux, as it is regularly amended. The most recent revision of the classification was in 2012

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Merlot

Merlot

The most widely planted grape in Bordeaux and a grape that has been on a relentless expansion drive throughout the world in the last decade. Merlot is adaptable to most soils and is relatively simple to cultivate. It is a vigorous naturally high yielding grape that requires savage pruning - over-cropped Merlot-based wines are dilute and bland. It is also vital to pick at optimum ripeness as Merlot can quickly lose its varietal characteristics if harvested overripe.

In St.Emilion and Pomerol it withstands the moist clay rich soils far better than Cabernet grapes, and at it best produces opulently rich, plummy clarets with succulent fruitcake-like nuances. Le Pin, Pétrus and Clinet are examples of hedonistically rich Merlot wines at their very best. It also plays a key supporting role in filling out the middle palate of the Cabernet-dominated wines of the Médoc and Graves.

Merlot is now grown in virtually all wine growing countries and is particularly successful in California, Chile and Northern Italy.

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