Château Fonbadet
Château Fonbadet
Vintage: 2003
Region: Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec
Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $43.00
We’ll look at an example from Château Fonbadet, whose vineyards are located in near the esteemed estates of Pichon Baron de Longueville, Latour and Lynch Bages to name a few. This wine is a true Bordeaux blend consisting of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Malbec. From a vintage perspective, 2003 was a great yet challenging in Bordeaux with intense heat arriving in August. Take 40 + degree Celsius temperatures and combine with a lack of cooling rain and one of the potential outcomes is roasted, thick skinned grapes leading to flabby, jammy wines. Lets see how this example is holding up.
Coming out of the decanter, the body of this wine is medium and it remains vibrant purple moving ever so slightly brickish orange to its edges. Color is a great indicator of age and potential longevity and this wine is still quite youthful with many good years ahead of it. On the nose, there is a intoxicating spiced vanilla mixed with cedar. In terms of fruit, there is a captivating blackberry play with cassis and cherry adding to the fragrance. This wine still has a delicate youthful freshness on the nose, yet another indicator of the many years this wine will live for. In the mouth, this wine has a finesse and lightness that is reminiscent of a Burgundy. Up front, there are aspects of tobacco, leather with a undercurrent of red berry fruit. At 12.5% alcohol, this is a classically styled old world claret with tremendous balance and impeccable levels of acidity. In hot vintages like 2003, acidity can be the first thing to go and fortunately, that hasn’t happened with this wine. Its tannins are soft and elegant and it finishes with good length.
All wine drinkers, given enough time will come back to Bordeaux and Burgundy for their wine selections. At $43.00 this wine is probably too expensive to be an everyday drinker but is a worthy splurge and will reward those who decide to cellar it for the next 5 to 8 years. It is a classic example of what Bordeaux wine should be and I highly recommend seeking it or another aged Bordeaux out at your next market visit.
90 points
- Château Fonbadet
- by Adrian Bryksa
- Published on May 5th, 2010
- Rating:
- 90 Points
More from Adrian Bryksa:
-
Clos la Coutale
Since new world malbec are all the rage for their ripe, bold fruit forwardness, I thought it would be interesting to observe the differences between style and presentation from old to new.
-
Edge Cabernet Sauvignon
Buying wine on tips is not unlike the stock market, sometimes there are stars but more often than not, there are dogs. Is Edge a star or a dog? Keep reading to find out.
-
MSTRKRFT with the Small Town DJ’s
These two chaps are technicians as evidenced by their ripping through their superbly crafted eclectic set. My toes were tapping and feet moving the whole time. They had some sound troubles but worked through them with ease.
-
David Walker Wines launches Mission Hill’s Perpetua and Quatrain
When you are a wine freak like me, getting sent invites to wine launch parties brings a combination of nerves, excitement and anticipation.
-
Caves Alianca Quinta dos Quatro Ventos Douro
I immediately thought that this wine would be an excellent contender for the cellar as in my experience, they often are much better in a few years time when they have had a chance to mellow out in bottle.
-
La Vieille Ferme Red 2006
When I saw this inexpensive French red, I imagine myself drinking wine out of a tumbler at some rustic vineyard in the south of France.
Other recent features:
-
Sónar 2010 – Barcelona, Spain
The festival attracts a lot of outsiders, but the Mediterranean, Spanish and more specifically Catalan nature of the people makes the festival what it is. Catalan people are passionate and this passion is infectious. The atmosphere is electric in Barcelona as a city and heightened by music and intoxicants at Sónar.
-
Summer Party Naval Styles at Seven RestoLounge
Oysters, like wine are affected by terroir and these Miyagi’s flavor profiles ranged with one showing a cleaner, almost tropical profile and the other being more salty, marine driven. As I was devouring the seemingly endless plates put in front of us, I sipped on a glass of fine sauvignon blanc.
-
R4NT Radio March 2010
R4NT Radio March 2010 um wow it’s been far too long since the last edition edition, featuring: Hector Hernandez, The Infesticons, Blockhead, Gramatik, Emika, Thunderheist, Parov Stelar, Eddy Meets Yannah, Anti-Pop Consortium, The Slew, Lighterthief, Andreya Triana, Parasyte Woman, Mathon, Venetian Snares, and Funki Porcini.
-
O Restaurant & Lounge revisited
Calgary has a diverse set of urban communities, most of which have the ubiquitous strip mall watering hole. In the South West community of Marda Loop, a reinvention of this paradigm has been established.
-
Predictions 2010.. and beyond!
So 2010 eh? Almost but not quite (no year zero they say) another decade? It seems like just yesterday that the world was waiting for Y2K. R4NT started publishing in March 2001, so we’re not quite 10 years old yet, but in internet years we are already a senior citizen.
-
Invictus
No matter what, the reality of Nelson Mandela is something that deserves screen time. Should this film even remotely intrigue the masses to take interest in this figure, the world would likely benefit greatly from it.
