Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThis is packed with plum and blackberry compote flavors, supported by graphite and smoldering tobacco notes. Everything melds through the solidly structured and toasty finish. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2022 through 2030.
An utterly delicious red with crushed berries, cappuccino and hints of black olives. Medium-bodied, compact and very soft. Really creamy texture. A blend of 75% merlot, 22% cabernet franc and 3% cabernet sauvignon. Hard not to drink now. So do it!
Deep purple-hued, the 2017 Chateau La Vieille Cure (75% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Cabernet Sauvignon) is a stunning success in the vintage. Notes of cassis, leafy herbs, tobacco, and spice all emerge from the glass, and this beauty is medium to full-bodied, ripe, textured, balanced, and nicely textured. With good acidity and a great finish, it's a smoking effort to drink over the coming 10-12 years.
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 La Vieille Cure comes bounding out of the glass with bold baked plums, Black forest cake and licorice scents followed by hints of garrigue, roses and menthol. Medium to full-bodied, the palate packs in the black fruit layers with a firm, grainy frame and spicy kick to the finish.
A rich wine with powerful black fruits, this is opulent and dense. The wine’s power is palpable, giving concentration and richness. Drink this massive wine from 2022
Barrel Sample
Château La Vieille Cure is a Bordeaux estate in the eastern Fronsac appellation. It makes a Merlot-dominant grand vin and second wine, blended with Cabernet Franc and small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon. The château dates back to the 18th Century – it features on a prominent map of the region made in 1780. Wine production on the property has an even longer history with 17th Century parish records mentioning vineyards there.
The estate took its modern form when it was bought by Americans Peter Sachs and Colin Ferenbach in 1986. The duo built a new winery, replanted vines and enacted extensive renovations. La Vieille Cure stopped selling a portion of its wine in bulk to be sold under other labels and began exclusively estate bottling. Since the 1980s the wine went from being primarily sold regionally in Fronsac, to distribution in more than 25 countries.
The vineyard covers 20 hectares (50 acres) and, uncommonly for Bordeaux, is a single large plot. It is planted on a limestone plateau above the Dordogne river near Libourne. The landscape includes southwest exposed hills of chalk and clay sub-soils. The grapes are mechanically destemmed, hand-sorted, with maceration lasting three to four weeks. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, while malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel.
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.
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.