Château Fonréaud

90 Wine Advocate // 92 Wine Enthusiast // 90 James Suckling

The Vintage of suspense

After a mild and rainy winter, vegetation started at the first temperature rises 2 weeks early.A warmApril and a cool, wet month of May led to some coulure and millerandage on the earliest vines, especially Merlots. The bloom was fairly fast and homogenous favored by the high temperatures of early June.Repeated showers punctuated the summer requiring constant vigilance of the vineyard.August cool and cloudy lost the advance of 2 weeks, caused an uneven maturation.By the end of August, Bordeaux had the longest Indian summer ever.Two and a half months of hot, dry days.

The excellent health status allowed to wait for the optimum of maturity. The Merlots harvestbegan on September 29th on the earliest plants and lasted until October 9th. The homogeneity of maturity was remarkable.The Petit Verdot was picked up between 13thand 15thOctober. Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested between October 14th and 16th, the good weather having allowed us to wait for their full maturity.

Alcoholic fermentations were made by favoring fruit extraction.The wines are very colorful, have a beautiful structure that augurs a very nice evolution in bottles.The summer freshness has favored the aromatic side of the wines and the purity of the aromas