Château Fonplégade
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Region: Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France
Grape: Merlot / Cabernet Franc
Tasting: Plum / Black cherry / Violet / Tobacco / Vanilla / Woodsmoke / Fine tannin / Full bodied / Long finish
Pairing: Roast squab pigeon / Black Angus fillet / Confit duck legs / Girolles with butter and parsley / Comté 24 month
Producer: Fonplégade sits on the south-facing limestone and clay slope below the village of Saint-Émilion, on ground that has been under vine since Roman times — the name comes from the spring that still runs on the property. The Adams family bought the 18.5 hectares in 2004 and have farmed it organically since certification in 2013, adding biodynamic certification in 2020; the wines are fermented with the vineyard's own yeasts. Stéphane Derenoncourt and Corinne Comme advise in the vineyard and the cellar. Merlot leads the blend, with Cabernet Franc behind it and more of it going in each year. The fruit ferments whole-berry in wooden vats and concrete, then the wine is raised for around eighteen months across new and one-year French barrels, concrete and amphorae — the last two are there to keep the fruit unvarnished.
2019 vintage: A cool wet June made for uneven flowering, then the weather turned and stayed turned: hot and dry through July and August, with days over 35°C but nights cool enough to hold the acidity, a fifteen-degree swing between the two. Useful rain came at the right moments in July and again before picking, and the Merlot came in from mid-September in fine conditions. Small, thick-skinned berries — concentrated wines, but with freshness through them. This is ripe and open, tobacco and dark fruit over fine tannin, drinking well now with plenty in reserve.
ABV: 15%
Vol: 75cl
Allergens: Contains sulphites
