2023 Fonplegade
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
Ripe red and black fruits, leafy herbs, truffly earth, and graphite define the 2023 Château Fonplegade, a brilliant Saint-Emilion from a hillside terroir just outside the village. Based on 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc and aged 16 months in 40% new French oak with 30% in one-year-old barrels, 20% in concrete tanks and eggs, and 10% in amphora, it's medium-bodied, charming, balanced, and very complete on the palate, with soft tannins and outstanding length. I like it today, yet it's going to have 15 years of longevity. Drink 2026-2040.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
More reviews and scores
The 2023 Fonplegade is all delicacy and finesse. Crushed flowers, mocha, dried herbs, pipe tobacco and cedar open gradually in the glass. This is an especially soft, understated style, one that seems especially well suited to a site planted on sand and limestone. Bright mineral undertones support the sneakily persistent finish.
Compelling aromas of spices, light coffee, dark berries, bark and dried mushrooms. Complex. Medium-bodied with lovely depth of fruit and a round and compressed tannin structure. Juicy and racy. 85% merlot and 15% cabernet franc. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
Cassis, tobacco, truffly earth, and chocolaty oak emerge from the 2023 Château Fonplegade, a richer 2023 with medium to full-bodied depth, ripe, velvety tannins, and outstanding length. It's a bigger, richer effort in the vintage that brings solid depth. The blend is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, raised in 40% new barrels, 30% in once-used oak, 20% in concrete eggs, and the balance in amphora.