Château Fontenil Fronsac 2016 (750ml) *
Product price
Description
Fronsac sits on Bordeaux's right bank, a pocket that tends to favor Merlot and yields wines with a plush, Pomerol-adjacent character for less than Pomerol money. This 2016 comes from Château Fontenil, the home estate of Michel and Danny Rolland, and it is a still red built in the polished, fruit-forward style the appellation does well. Medium-bodied and carefully made, it leans on ripe black fruit and fine tannin rather than sheer weight.
Tight and focused at first, it opens into cassis and dark plum threaded with violets, damp earth, and a note of cedary spice. The tannins are silky, more support than grip, buttressing the fruit rather than drying it out. There is a chalky minerality underneath and a lick of oak in the background, and the whole thing stays fresh through a long, perfumed close. Approachable now, with the balance to hold and develop over the coming decade.
Expert Reviews
This is so tight and polished with a degree of depth and beauty I have not seen for a while. Medium body and beautiful, silky tannins that buttress the lovely, focused fruit. (James Suckling, March 2019)
The 2018 Château Fontenil is a beautiful wine that readers will be happy to have in their cellar. Coming from the home estate of Michel and Danny Rolland in Fronsac, it offers a saturated ruby/purple hue as well as terrific Pomerol-like aromas and flavors of cassis, damp earth, violets, and cedary spice. Flawlessly balanced, medium-bodied, with background oak as well as chalky minerality, it's already hard to resist yet has another 10-15 years of prime drinking ahead of it. It's a hidden gem in the vintage. (Jeb Dunnuck, March 2021)
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Fontenil hits the ground running with vivacious notes of baked black plums, stewed black cherries and black raspberry preserves, followed by hints of molten licorice, ground cloves and sandalwood. The rich, full-bodied palate (15% alcohol) is jam-packed with black fruit preserves and exotic spice accents, framed by plush tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and perfumed. (Wine Advocate, April 2021)