2005 Chateau Fonsalette Côtes du Rhône Rouge
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Tasting notes
Full bottle 1,326 g. Château Rayas’s little brother. Shaded pale ruby, but darker than Ch Rayas from the same vintage! Lightly gamey nose with some grenadine notes. Light and charmingly floral and sweet with some spiciness. A real pleasure and an eye-opener for a 20-year-old Côtes du Rhône. Really, really long. (JR)
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Robert Parker
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
Full bottle 1,326 g. Transparent ruby with a very pale rim. Gamey and mulchy nose. Sweet start and freshness with hardly any tannin perceptible. Wonderfully rich finish. Chosen for a very cold night without effective central heating to go with roast chicken. Very consoling and almost more like (old-fashioned) Burgundy than Rhône. (JR)
Full bottle 1,283 g. (Not that much!) Lustrous ruby. Rich, sweet, earthy nose. It has slight overtones of Ch Musar... So, so much more serious than most wines from this appellation, it has breadth of rich fruit with a little hint of both herbs and Band-aid but is certainly not a horribly serious fault. Jewel-bright and lifted. It will lift our cold turkey tonight, I'm sure. So long and complex. (JR)
Lustrous shaded ruby with a hint of rust at the rim. Rich, very complex, evolved nose that is almost like a particularly herbal Pomerol. Lovely combo of sweetness and freshness on the palate. This is a good moment to drink this. There's still a hint of tannin, and a heavy hint of alcohol, plus sweetness but no heaviness. Lightly sandy texture on the finish. Too big to sip without food but a very rewarding drink. (JR)
About the producer
Ch. Rayas is a cult name in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The wines – pure, silken expressions of Grenache with distinctive perfume – are revered for their singularity and fiercely collected. Made by Emmanuel Reynaud and renowned for their ageability, they have become some of the region's most sought-after.