Winemaker Notes
Blend: 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This sits at the riper end of the spectrum with plenty of cedary oak adding interest to rich blueberry and cassis fruits. The palate has a smoothly groomed texture with plum flavors carried on firm, fine tannins.
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Wine Spectator
This sports a core saturated with alluring mulled plum, steeped cherry and warm currant preserve flavors, laced with charcoal, iron and tobacco details. Fleshy and sleek at the same time, showing breadth and depth. A sleeper.
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Decanter
Lovely texture of sweet, ripe tannins and bright, fragrant mid-palate fruit. Clean and firm on the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Les Trois Croix is scented of cherry compote, warm black plums and cassis with hints of garrigue, bay leaves and cloves. Medium to full-bodied with plenty of poise and depth, it has lovely youthful fruit and approachability with a long, refreshing finish.
Located 86 meters above sea level on the limestone plateau, the vineyard offers a magnificent view over the hills, valleys and mounds typical "of this count... this Fronsac" Tuscan girondine "if endearing." The plateau of clay composed of "molasses of Fronsac" relies on large limestone rock outcropping that of the surface. These are ideal conditions for Merlot, the grape king supplemented by Cabernet Franc up to 20%, which the Fronsac region is known for producing.
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.