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Fonbel 2009

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > St Emilion
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot/Cabernet Sauvignon

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château de Fonbel

Label

Tasting Notes

Made by Ausone's perfectionist owner, Alain Vauthier, Fonbel is a sleeper of the vintage in 2009. Raspberry and black currant notes intermixed with incense, camphor and a note of crushed wet/rock steeliness offer up a complex set of aromatics. That is followed by a dense ruby/purple wine with excellent texture, fruit extract and an overall harmony among its various elements. Drink it over the next decade or more.

89
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (199), March 2012

Tasted at Chateau Ausone. This has a lifted bouquet of red-berried fruit, with notes of redcurrant and cranberry, a touch of tobacco, perhaps just a little pinched compared with recent samples at this nascent stage. The palate is medium-bodied, soft on the entry, dried herbs inflecting the brambly red-berried fruit, leading to a dry, quite foursquare finish. To be honest, I was expecting just a little more. Tasted March 2010.

85/87
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, April 2010

Pretty Cabernet Franc aromas of crushed berries and some milk chocolate. Medium- to full-bodied, with soft and silky tannins. Long sweet fruit on the finish.

88/91
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, April 2010

Mid crimson. Very sweet and scented and polished. But not that much savoury density. A bit tough and dry on the end. Date tasted 30th March 2010. Drink 2015-2025.

16
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2010

Clean, fresh, fruit-driven. Good value as always for early to mid-term drinking. Drink 2013-2022.

15
James Lawther MW, Decanter.com, April 2010
Read more tasting notes...

Made by Ausone's proprietor, Alain Vauthier, this attractive, round, pretty wine is soft and generous, with loads of blueberry and raspberry fruit as well as hints of incense and crushed rock. It should drink well for a decade or more. (Tasted once). Drink 2010-2020.

87/89
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188), April 2010
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.