Winemaker Notes
The color is beautiful and dark promise of a rich wine. The nose is complex. The opium powder, black fruits, hearth, violet are mixed with it. The mouth is juicy, refreshing and caressing. It evokes the precious silks and flannels but also the rock, even the purest rock water. The wine is reminiscent of blueberries, old roses. Its finish, mineral and saline, accompanies for a very long time.
Blend: 92.5% Merlot - 7.5% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Fonroque is just loaded with gorgeous red fruits; strawberries, framboise, flowers, and incense notes all soar from the glass of this beauty, and it has first-rate depth and complexity on the nose. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and silky on the palate, with beautiful purity and finesse, it's not a blockbuster, but shines for its elegance and length. Drink this gorgeous wine anytime over the coming 15-20 years. This cuvee is 93% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc brought up in 30% new French oak.
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James Suckling
This has bright fruit aromas with cherry, raspberry and blueberry character, as well as a mineral and spicy undertone. Full body, firm and silky tannins and a flavorful finish. Extremely long and flavorful. Needs two or three years to soften.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Fonroque has an earthy nose scented of damp soil and mossy bark over a core of dried mulberries, fruitcake and cherry cordial. Medium to full-bodied with loads of freshness and a chewy frame, it finishes with some spicy notions coming through.
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Wine Spectator
Solid, with a hefty feel to the core of plum sauce and currant paste flavors, backed by warm cocoa and fruitcake notes but offset by a graphite edge through the spice-tinged finish.
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.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.