Winemaker Notes
The Clos du Roy has an earthy, briary-scented bouquet with great definition and personality. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, good body and is very well balanced, the finish offering blackberry and bilberry notes with a touch of sea salt. This wine also has the ability to age and develop with time. The winery's goal is to craft this wine by mixing the best density, complexity and balance.
Pair this wine alongside with grilled steak, pulled pork, duck and hearty dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Clos du Roy has a tightly wound bouquet with abundant black fruit waiting to unfold once in bottle. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded but firm tannin, engaging blackberry and bilberry fruit mixed with mineral and a very refined and persistent finish that is the best I have encountered from this Fronsac estate. Bon vin! Très bon vin! Barrel Sample: 91-93
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James Suckling
Lots of blackberry, blueberry and black-licorice aromas. Full body, chewy tannins and a hazelnut, dark-fruit and walnut aftertaste. A blend of merlot and cabernet franc. Needs two or three years of bottle age to soften. Try in 2022.
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Jeb Dunnuck
This estate has turned out a vivid purple-hued 2016 that is a blend of 90% Merlot and 5% each of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Its saturated color is followed by a ripe, dense, beautifully concentrated Fronsac that has loads of ripe plum and blackberry fruits, medium to full body, a stacked, layered mid-palate, and ripe yet present tannins that emerge on the mid-palate. It's a beautifully balanced, powerful 2016 that should benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age and keep for a decade or more.
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.
Home of the very first remarkable Right Bank wines, dating back to the 1730s, Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac actually retained more fame than Pomerol well into the 19th century. Today these wines represent some of Bordeaux’s best hidden gems.
Fronsac is a very small region at an unusually high elevation compared to other Bordeaux appellations. Its vineyards unroll along the oak-dotted hills bordering the river’s edge, making it perhaps Bordeaux’s prettiest and most majestic countryside.
Merlot covers 60% of the vineyard acreage; the rest of the vines are Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac appellations are limited to the higher land where soils are predominantly limestone and sandstone. Lower vineyards along the Dordogne River mainly qualify for Bordeaux AOC status
The best Fronsac are deeply concentrated in ripe red and black berry; they have a solid mineral backbone and are rich and plush on the finish.