France / Bordeaux
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2017 Chateau Fontesteau Cru Bourgeois

Château Fontesteau

Bordeaux

Château Fontesteau 2017 is a wine that reveals all the character of Cabernet Sauvignon in its youth, with freshness and aromas of black fruits. Faithful to the typicality of Haut-Médoc wines, it is distinctive and gourmet, and can be drunk young or kept in the cellar for lovers of more advanced wines. A safe bet for “pleasure” wines for epicureans.


Viticulture

The hot and arid spring led to an early bud break.

The Merlots are growing very regularly and are 12 days ahead. But on April 27, temperatures of -3.5°C were recorded at 6:30 a.m.: the vines froze. The next morning, the temperatures are still very low. Curiously, some plots are completely spared while others are more than 90% destroyed.

In our misfortune, there are almost no plots with grapes from 2 generations which would have required 2 passages for the harvest.

In August, a very early vintage is announced. But in the end, the cold and humidity of September pushed back the Merlot harvest to September 19.

We end on October 5 with a surgical harvest of the frozen Cabernet Sauvignon. We do not sulphate the harvest, as we have been doing now for 2 years.


Vinification

The juices colour very quickly during the first pumping over. During the maturity checks, the tasting of the berries did not reveal a large tannic structure. Fermentation maceration and vatting for 3 weeks will confirm the profile of a very colourful, fruity, fleshy vintage with a supple and elegant finish