Winemaker Notes
The classic-style Medoc wine immediately seduces by a beautiful deep ruby color and an elegant nose with fine notes of red fruits and spices. The rich palate reveals a round and racy wine with delicious fruit and vanilla aromas on well-melted, full and velvety tannins.
Blend: 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Fonreaud is certainly a Listrac that is worth checking out. The bouquet is very well defined with supremely well-integrated oak that allows the terroir to show through. There is a subtle Margaux-like floral scent coming through. The palate is very well balanced with fine tannins and a very good backbone. This Fonreaud is one of the most precise that I have tasted and there is tangible tension all the way through to the refined finish. This Listrac has produced some very fine wines recently and this 2016 could be the best yet.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
Wine Enthusiast
Situated at one of the highest points in the Médoc, this estate is one of several owned by the Chanfreau family. This tight, structured wine has dense tannins and smoky, toasty flavors from wood aging. Let this rich wine fully integrate and drink from 2023.
-
Decanter
This is from the same stable as Château Lestage, but not a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel. It shows firm tannins and sappy black fruits with a good sense of direction travelling through the palate.
-
James Suckling
A delicate 2016 with hot stones, currants and hints of cedar. Medium to light body. Easy yet firm finish. A blend of 52 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 44 per cent merlot and four per cent petit verdot. Drink in 2020.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Château Fonreaud is a terrific Listrac and is up with the top wines from the appellation. Showing the more medium-bodied, elegant style of Listrac, with pretty mulberry and cherry fruits, it has hints of toasted bread and flowers, a rounded, supple texture, and is a totally charming, beautifully balanced 2016 to drink over the coming 8-10 years. It’s far from a blockbuster but it’s a great drink.
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.
One of the six appellations of the Haut-Medoc, Listrac has a gentle rise away from the Gironde River and contains some of the highest elevations of the Left Bank. While Cabernet Sauvignon dominates, its clay limestone soils are increasingly planted to Merlot.