2018 Fonreaud
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Fonréaud has an exuberant bouquet featuring more red than black fruit, offering raspberry and wild strawberry and touches of tobacco and espresso; I like the manner in which this unfolds. The medium-bodied palate is delineated with a fine bead of acidity and grainy tannins, although the oak seems to dominate on the finish and lends a dark chocolate smear that detracts from its precision (also one of its attributes in barrel). I hope that will be assimilated with time.
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Lots of cedar, sappy green herbs, and assorted red and black fruits emerge from the 2018 Château Fonreaud. Medium-bodied, with a balanced, elegant texture and impressive, polished tannins, I love its purity of fruit. This charming, elegant 2018 should benefit from a year or two of bottle age and have a good decade of longevity.
Cru bourgeois supérieur. 48% Merlot, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot. Plenty of freshness and lift. Bright berry fruit with a toasty edge. Very fine tannins and texture (most accomplished in tannin management of the Listracs). Persistent finish. A classic in form and composition. (JL)
48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 48% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot. Darkest cherry with purple-crimson rim. Bright, cedary fresh aroma of black fruits. Firm, dry tannins that have the fruit tongue-tied on the palate but the tannins are finely built if dense at the moment. Not giving much away. Dry, almost chalky in texture, relatively slim on the mid palate. (JH)
About the producer
Situated at the highest point in the Médoc (at a huge 43 metres above sea-level), this estate is thought to be named after a spring on the site, from which Henry II supposedly drank (a “royal fountain”).