Chateau Fonplegade 2015

Professional Ratings

• 95 James Suckling
  A gorgeous and layered red showcasing blackberry, blueberry and mineral aromas and flavors. It’s full-bodied and polished with impressive tannins. Shows the flamboyance of the estate. Give it time to come around. From organic grapes. Drink in 2022.
• 94 Jeb Dunnuck
  Almost all Merlot (there's 5% Cabernet Franc) from a terrific site situated between Angelus and Pavie (this is prime Saint-Emilion terroir!), the 2015 Château Fonplegade is a rich, opulent beauty that comes across as amazingly elegant and weightless for a wine of this size. Cassis, toasted spices, dried earth, and lots of floral nuances all emerge from this full-bodied Saint-Emilion that has notable purity and freshness, ripe tannin, and a great finish. It's blockbuster stuff that needs to be snatched up by readers. Give bottles 2-3 years and enjoy over the following 15-20 years. Tasted twice.
• 92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  Made almost exclusively from Merlot with just a 5% splash of Cabernet Franc, the 2015 Fonplegade is deep garnet-purple in color with a very pretty nose of red and black currants, wild thyme, charcuterie, earth and floral notes plus a fair amount of cedary notions in the background. Medium to full-bodied, it's wonderfully elegant, fine and fresh in the mouth with arresting purity and depth, finishing just a little woody. Give it 3-5 years for the oak to marry and the fruit to come to the forefront, and drink it over the next 10 to 15+ years.
  Rating: 92+
• 92 Wine Spectator
  This is richly layered, offering boysenberry, fig and cassis flavors that stay fresh and focused, with fine chalky minerality buried throughout. Best from 2020 through 2030.
• 92 Decanter
  Lots of oak here, compared to the other St-Emilion in the tasting, but at GCC level I guess the expectation is for a longer life; you can sense the sleek plum and black cherry beneath. No qualms at all: a classy young wine, tight-sewn, rich, and I expect it will begin to turn truffley in half a decade or so.