CLOS FOURTET

2017 1er Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion

EN PRIMEUR

The 2017 Clos Fourtet has a powerful, almost burly bouquet with upfront, quite bold blackberry, raspberry and strawberry fruit that maybe miss the precision of some of the appellation’s more elegant offerings. There is just a touch of cassis and violet that emerges with continued aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, more rounded in texture than its peers. There is impressive volume towards the finish that is uncommon in this vintage, but you have to just stand back and admire its persistence. Drinking range: 2023 - 2045 Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)

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Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Clos Fourtet is scented of crème de cassis, blueberry compote and plum preserves with touches of hoisin, truffles and dark chocolate plus a waft of anise. Medium to full-bodied, the generous fruit is plushly textured with great freshness, finishing long and spicy. Rating: 92-94 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2018)

Black core with purple rim. Sweet and a little charry on the nose. A little less fruit on the palate than I expected from the aroma. Tannins are chalky but hold a firm grip and this needs time. But there's fruit at the core. Drinking range: 2024 - 2030 Rating: 16 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2018)

Good quality with depth of complexity and layers. An excellent Clos Fourtet that really lives up to the success of recent vintages, if not quite at the level of its 2015 and 2016. Damson, dark chocolate and saline notes are bolstered by extremely dark fruits that have the juice to carry them through the mid-palate, the oak supporting rather than overwhelming. There's a slight austerity and savoury edge to the fruit that speaks of 2017, but this is easily hitting the heights of St-Émilion in this vintage. Drinking range: 2025 - 2038 Rating: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2018)

Intense, with blackberry, cassis and boysenberry puree notes racing through, inlaid with subtle anise and black tea details. Offers a gorgeous feel, with a long, fine-grained chalky spine buried on the finish. A beauty. Rating: 93-96 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2018)

A very sexy young wine with a solid center palate and refined, integrated tannins. Medium body. Everything is in the right place. Rating: 94-95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2018)

Here the nose is very fresh and perfumed, with notes of icing sugar, with scents of red plum and a touch of cigar-box oak. A quite cool palate follows, a firm and restrained style, with a supple presence of fruit, and some fine-grained tannins wrapped in oak. It has an attractive tannic structure, quite pretty and fresh, with a fine grip in the finish. This is a success in the context of the vintage, with some fine potential. Rating: 91-93 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2018)

Guarding the westerly approaches to St Emilion village was a fort that became a château – Campfourtet renaming itself Fourtet sometime in the 19th Century. The 19.2 hectares are split between two main blocks, 14 hectares immediately around the buildings, and a further 5 about 400 metres away. Often spoken of as among the better estates in St Emilion, it has only really lived up its potential greatness in recent years under the tenure of the Cuvelier family, who purchased Clos Fourtet in 2001. These Cuveliers are not related to the Léoville Poyferré Cuveliers, and came from outside the world of wine - Philippe was running the Guilbert / Niceday office supplies company. His son Mathieu helps to run the properties. The Cuveliers own Château Poujeaux, in Moulis-en-Médoc, and subsequently bought Clos Fourtet’s neighbour Château Grandes Murailles, although they have resisted the temptation to merge the two together. The vineyards are 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and only 5% Cabernet Franc, with an average age of 30 years. There is a tendency toward organic/biodynamic viticulture, although full conversion is still some way off.