


Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesBarrel Sample: 95-97
Drinking Window 2027 - 2043
Barrel Sample: 97
Barrel Sample: 95-97
Tasted on two separate occasions, the 2018 Château Clos Fourtet is a beauty, offering a ripe, powerful style in its crème de cassis, spice box, liquid rock, and incense aromas and flavors. Checking in as a blend of 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon that will see 16 months in 60% new oak, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, loads of flesh, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It’s slightly more approachable and sexier than the Canon, which shares a similar terroir on the upper plateau, but it’s going to evolve beautifully for at least 20-25 years. It’s a beautiful wine very much in the style of the vintage. Barrel Sample: 95-97.
Beautiful blueberries and black cherries with crushed-stone and limestone notes. Juniper, too. It’s full-bodied, yet so linear and energetic with focused, fine tannins. Fresh acidity. Really fine-grained tannins here. Drink after 2025.
Juicy, winey and very compact in feel, with racy acidity and chalky minerality imbedded deeply in the core of sleek cassis, bitter cherry and damson plum flavors. Nice flecks of savory and dried anise dot the finish, where everything echoes nicely. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2024 through 2038.


Clos Fourtet owes its fame to the Rulleau and Carles families. The latter were lords of Figeac. They were the first to grow vines on this barely arable land, which nevertheless has outstanding natural drainage. Clos Fourtet's old vines, perfectly balanced grape varieties, traditional winemaking methods backed up by the most modern techniques, and aging in new oak barrels in underground cellars complement all the gifts that nature has bestowed on this chateau.