2014 Fonroque

The 2014 Fonroque showed well from barrel. Now in bottle, Alain Moueix's Saint Emilion has a slightly ostentatious bouquet with intense, dark cherry, crushed violet and boysenberry jam notes that do not quite deliver the sophistication that I was initially anticipating. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin and here the quality that I was seeking finally begins to show through, demonstrating fine delineation and sense of tension, especially on the finish. I will give this the benefit of doubt and predict that the aromatics will just gain some composure with bottle age. But I would afford it two or three years in bottle. Mar 2017, www.robertparker.com