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:
-
Adamas Pinot Noir
Burgundy: there are few words in the world of wine that can mean so much. Often setting an oenophilles heart aflutter, its wines are esoteric, complicated and more often than not, misunderstood.
-
Esser Cellars Chardonnay
Coming out of the bottle, it exhibited a pale honey straw-ish color and the nose is delivered a bit of baked apple and honey along with some toasted oak, which almost makes it seem like apple pie.
-
Stark РCond̩ Syrah
For the most part, I typically stay away from South African wines, for no good reason other than I haven’t had one that has really excited me or blown me away. Maybe this Syrah will change that.
-
Huber Grüner Veltliner Obere Steigen D.A.C.
This is an almost exclusive Austrian varietal that seems to fit in between Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc stylistically and sometimes exhibits some characteristics commonly found in Riesling. It sound like my kind of white.
-
Cooper Mountain Vineyards Cooper Hill Pinot Noir
I have been inspired to revisit Pinot Noir as when it is done right, can be heaven in a glass and when done incorrectly, can be a pure disaster. To me it is the thrill of the hunt for that special pinot that is so alluring.
-
Against Me! interview with Tom Gabel
Preceding their latest tour stop in Calgary, I had a chance to sit down with Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel to talk about the tour, the past, the present and the future and also had a chance to spin a few miscellaneous questions in as well.
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.
