CHÂTEAU FOMBRAUGE

The 2020 Fombrauge, so impressive in barrel, has a very opulent bouquet in bottle with ravishing red cherries and cassis fruit. It's a little oaky, but there is enough fruit to soak that up. The palate is dense and powerful, clearly showing quite a bit of extraction, and I was hoping to find more complexity coming through on the finish. Not bad at all, but this falls just below my expectations from a few months back. Tasted twice with consistent notes. Drinking range: 2026 - 2042 Rating: 91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)

This has aromas of cigar box, cedar, blueberries and pine cones. Firm, polished tannins provide sturdy support, yet remain silky. Medium to full body. Very fine and classy. Better from 2025. Rating: 94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Dec 2022)

This wine starts off well with bold fruit and some decent structure but it finishes too blunt and flat and I cannot seem to find any length on the back of the palate. I am happy to note that this sample might be a little tired, but it seems fresh enough on the nose, so my only choice is to say what I see and therefore it is an adequate wine only, with an uninspiring finish and a ‘?’, too. Rating: 16+? Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Jun 2021)

The 2020 Fombrauge is packed with blackberry jam, chocolate, licorice, spice and mocha. This bold, opulent Saint-Émilion is impeccably balanced. Yes, there is a ton of intensity and richness, but Fombrauge avoids the excesses of some of Bernard Magrez's other wines. Drinking range: 2026 - 2040 Rating: 91-93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)

The 2020 Fombrauge has a crisp blackberry, blueberry and cedar nose, subtle pine aromas filtering through with aeration. The medium-bodied palate delivers crunchy black fruit laced with cedar and very light ash notes. Good acidity here, and nice structure; a convincingly more classic Fombrauge, this, with fine grip toward the finish. I approve. Drinking range: 2028 - 2050 Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)

The inky-hued 2020 Château Fombrauge is another wonderful Saint-Emilion that shines on all accounts. Possessing terrific purity in its cassis-styled fruits as well as notes of violets, chocolate, and chalky minerality, this puppy is medium to full-bodied, has a great mid-palate, background oak, and outstanding length. Tasted twice. Rating: 93-95 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)

Confident and structured, offering a velvet texture and dense plum and blackberry fruits, plenty of punch with ground coffee on the finish. Now one of the largest estates in St-Emilion at 58ha. Olivier Desmond technical director. Drinking range: 2026 - 2040 Rating: 91 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)

Dark lustrous blackish crimson. Aromatic and then very sweet palate entry with some pretty emphatic tannins and acid sort of bolted on at the end. Extremely concentrated and flattering with impressive persistence. A little savoury quality on the end so this is not sickly. This could be very appealing. So of course, as usual, I am scoring it without taking the bottle weight into account. Drinking range: 2026 - 2042 Rating: 16.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2021)

This is really finely textured with beautiful tannins that run the length of the wine and go on and on. It’s full-bodied, yet refined and poised. Pretty finish. Best ever? Rating: 94-95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2021)