2018 Château de Fieuzal

The 2018 Château de Fieuzal left me scratching my head when I tasted it from out of barrel. Now in bottle, I am afraid the nose still has a jarring metallic veneer that inserts itself between the taster and whatever fruit lies beyond. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannins, slightly green and maybe displaying just a bit of underripeness on the finish. I have had many great wines from this estate, but the 2018 still leaves me perplexed. Three bottles tasted with consistent notes.

A beautiful, classic wine from this appellation located south of Bordeaux, the 2018 Château De Fieuzal reveals a dense purple hue as well as textbook notes of ripe black cherries, currants, smoked earth, tobacco, and chocolate. Textbook Graves all the way with its smoky, earthy, yet voluptuous and medium to full-bodied style, it's going to benefit from 3-5 years in the cellar and shine for 10-15 years. It's the finest wine I've tasted from this Château since the 2009 and is well worth seeking out.

The 2018 de Fieuzal is heavy, overripe and not especially interesting. Sure, there is plenty of richness in the jammy dark fruit, chocolate and sweet oak flavors, but less in the way of complexity. This is an especially racy, flamboyant style, and yet the grainy tannins are penalizing. I had hoped for more.