Chateau Fontenil 2016
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Spectator
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Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Sleek in feel, with racy acidity pulling the raspberry and plum fruit along from the get-go. The chalky minerality is well-embedded on the finish. Solid. Rating: 90-93
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James Suckling
Extremely perfumed and bright with raspberry, currant and dried-flower character. Full-bodied, yet soft and velvety with a flavorful finish. Already gorgeous. Better from 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Fontenil is medium to deep garnet-purple colored and gives up exuberant red cherries, black raspberries, wild blueberries and cinnamon stick scents with hints of wild sage and forest floor. Medium-bodied, refreshing and wonderfully elegant, it has beautiful vibrancy and a perfumed finish.
Rating: 91+ -
Jeb Dunnuck
The home terroir of famed consultant Michel Rolland, the 2016 Château Fontenil sports a vivid purple color to go with impressive amounts of plum and currant fruits as well as loads of tobacco leaf, cedar pencil shavings, and camphor. Medium to full-bodied, with terrific elegance and purity, it shines for its balance and is very much in the style of the 2016 vintage. It will be even better with short-term cellaring and drink well for 10-15 years.
Rating: 90+
Other Vintages
2022-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
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Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
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Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Vinous
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Suckling
James - Decanter
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Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James - Decanter
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James
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Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
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Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James
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Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine
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Spectator
Wine
In 1986, they acquired a few hectares in the commune of Saillans, which they called chateau Fontenil, after the name of one of the plots in the vineyard. The renovation work on the installations lasted until 1999; the vinification cellars, the barrel cellar and the storage cellar were all equipped with high-performance material.
Perfectly organized, tradition remains alongside new technologies: small stainless steel and wooden vats, double sorting table, barrel stock of which 60% are renewed each year and where malolactic fermentation is carried out – yield control from pruning the vines until green harvesting- sustainable viticulture, manual harvesting plot by plot using small crates.
The vines are on a slope with a southerly aspect, looking down on the river isle – a tributary of the Dordogne – and the town of Lilbourn. This magnificent setting frames an estate whose wines are among those which have enhanced the reputation of the Fronsac appellation.