Château Fombrauge 2020 Red

Grand Cru Classé of Saint-Émilion

Six centuries of history. Château Fombrauge embodies the elegance of Saint-Emilion's Grands Crus Classés . The estate boasts an exceptional terroir, giving it elegance, complexity and distinction. The wine from Château Fombrauge is matured using traditional methods, combined with innovative, environmentally-friendly practices, which give it charm and complexity.

Features

Appellation: AOC Saint-Émilion Grand Cru
Location: Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes
Blend: 96% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc
Age of vines: 21 years
Planting density: 6,600 vines/ha

Tasting

Purplish purple. Intense bouquet, marked by notes of blackcurrant and blackberry. Well-integrated, well-mastered ageing. Dense and elegant on the palate, with fine-grained tannins that slowly reveal themselves. Freshness, charm and sapidity. Persistent finish.

Food & wine pairing

Red meat
Ripened cheeses
Mediterranean cuisine
Duck dishes
Mushroom dishes

Conservation

2026-2042

Product from a High Environmental Value farm

SME: ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR BORDEAUX WINES

Ratings & Awards

97/100
James Suckling
94/100
The Wine Doctor

97/100

James Suckling

"It's really finely textured, with lovely tannins that run the length of the wine and last endlessly. Full-bodied, yet refined and balanced. Lovely finish. The best ever?

94/100

The Wine Doctor

"A wine from the Bernard Magrez stable. It shows some saturation in the glass, though perhaps more modest than I expected. Nevertheless, it remains impressive, displaying a dark core color with a thin raspberry-cranberry rim. The nose is rather perfumed, with notes of red plum, violets, vanilla bean and freshly roasted coffee bean, with a touch of chalk dust. On the palate, there's a restrained elegance, with a soft, velvety substance inserted into a firm texture, the rich fruit pleasantly contained by the wine's firmness, the palate framed by dry, peppery, tight tannins. It also has a taut, almost slate-like mineral tension, while the finish lingers with tannic strength, but also a soft cushion of fruit, which is more than some of its peers manage. An interesting composition here, which seems to work well in the context of the vintage, with a real sense of energy and dynamism. The declared alcohol content is 14.5%. Three separate samples tasted with consistent results."

Winegrowing singularities

Wine Singularities

Climate

Plot-by-plot soil maintenance (grassing, ploughing),
First leaf-thinning in July,
Second leaf removal in September,
HVE3 (High Environmental Value Level 3), EMS and ISO 14001 certifications.

Parcel-by-parcel selection by terroir, grape variety and vine age,
Intra-cellular selection based on drone-derived vigour and maturity maps,
Hand-picked in small crates,
Table sorting before and after destemming by 20 qualified personnel,
Gravity-fed into small-capacity (70hl) wooden, stainless steel and concrete vats,
Pre-fermentation maceration for 4 to 8 days at 8°C,
Entirely manual punching down,
Maceration time: Merlot from 28 to 32 days, Cabernet from 26 to 28 days,
Aged 16 months: 35% in new barrels, 65% in one-wine barrels.

Winter 2020 in Saint-Émilion was characterized by relatively mild temperatures and moderate rainfall. Winter conditions were conducive to a good resting period for the vines.
Spring was earlier than normal in 2020, with slightly higher temperatures. However, the region also experienced some drought in spring, which may have affected the initial development of the vines.
The summer of 2020 was marked by high temperatures and plenty of sunshine. This warm weather contributed to rapid ripening of the grapes, but the persistent drought may have led to water stress in the Vineyards.
The first few weeks of autumn were generally favorable, with pleasant temperatures and stable weather conditions, enabling harvesting to take place in good conditions.