Chateau Cap de Faugeres Mouleyre 2016
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James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has good, aromatic clarity on the nose with a wealth of ripe dark plums and a fresh-earth thread. The palate has very attractive depth and presence with ripe dark-plum flavors, holding long and even. Try from 2022.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from a small 4-hectare plot of limestone soils and a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Château Cap de Faugères La Mouleyre is deeper colored and boasts a rock star bouquet of black and blue fruits, white truffle, graphite, and crushed rocks. This beautifully textured, layered, medium to full-bodied beauty has ripe tannins and a great finish, and is one seriously good mouthful of a Bordeaux. Drink it over the coming 15+ years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Mouleyre comes from a specific vineyard site cropped between 3-19 October. It has a rich and decadent bouquet, very pure and heady with creme de cassis and blueberry fruit, a little overripe. The palate is sweet and a little cloying with raisin-tinged black fruit, but it lacks some delineation and detail on the finish. Hedonistic for sure, but it feels rather generic and I much prefer the 2015.
Barrel Sample: 89-91 Points
Château Cap de Faugères is a wine estate comprising 46 hectares (114 acres) of the Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux appellation in the village of Sainte-Colombe. Annually, it produces approximately 100,000 bottles of its flagship wine, a Merlot-based Bordeaux red blend with smaller quantities of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.
In 1823, the Esquissaud family purchased three Faugères estates: Châteaux Cap de Faugères, Faugères and Péby Faugères. Pierre-Bernard Guisez took control of the family business in 1987 and managed the three estates up until 2005 when they were acquired by Silvio Denz, a perfume designer and European winery owner. He has since expanded the Château Cap de Faugères portfolio in collaboration with consultant oenologist, Michel Rolland.
Merlot reigns supreme at Cap de Faugères, laying claim to 85 percent of the vineyards, with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon making up the remaining 15 percent. These vines are on average 30 years old, and are cultivated using sustainable viticultural methods.
Vinification at Château Cap de Faugères is carried out using a gravity flow system. Prior to fermentation, the grapes are cold-soaked and then fermented in a mixture of temperature-controlled stainless steel vats and wooden vats. Following fermentation, the wines are aged in oak barrels for 12-14 months.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Though the region is larger than many of its Right Bank neighbors, it is one that consistently produces high quality, well-valued red wines. In fact, Cotes de Castillon can almost be considered a geographical eastern extension of St. Emilion, producing similarly-fashioned reds based on Merlot.
Vineyards in the region’s clay, limestone and sandstone soils produce sturdy red wines. On alluvial terraces, in vineyards closer to the Dordogne River, wines tend to be more supple and fruity. In either case, a great Cotes de Castillon red will be bursting with raspberry, plum and blueberry, have an enticing bouquet of dried flowers and a finish that is plush and opulent.