Château Fonréaud

92 Wine Enthusiast // 88-89 James Suckling // 90-91 Bernard Burtschy // 89-91 Anthocyanes
87-89 Vinous // 16 Jancis Robinson // 85-87 Wine Advocate // 91-92 Vert de Vin

An early but challenging Vintage

A very dry spring with high temperatures in early April caused early bud burst. When the frost happened, on the 27thof April, the shoots was already30 cmlong… This hazard has reached certain plots located on a corridor east of the vineyard. The result: 30% of destroyed harvest.

A beautiful month of May: The half-flowering is around May 25th. Or almost two weeks ahead of the previous year.June records heat records. At the end of June, 5 days of intense rain (130mm) follow. Atemperate climate over thetwo following months of summer gives to the fruits a nice freshness.The first half of September was sunny with some rains, allowing us to reach a beautiful maturity, and to harvest in good conditions during the second fortnight.

After cold maceration ofthe harvest, the alcoholic fermentations were made by focusing onthe extraction of the fruit. The wines are colorful and crispy, they have a nice structure with melted tannins that augur a very nice evolution in barrels. Good acidity is a perfect match for fruit, structure and wood. This is a vintage that will cross the timeperfectly!