Saint-Émilion · vintage 2020
The 2020 vintage in Saint-Émilion
Vintage benchmark: 96/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: An early, dry year gave splendid wines, which many rank above 2018.
Overall reading of the year’s season across Saint-Émilion. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.
Tasting
Château Fombrauge 2020 already shows a dark red hue, intense fruit aromas and an elegant expression of tannins which together make the wine already delicious to drink. Aromas of cherry, blackberry and raspberry come through together with notes of spice. On the palate, the wine is round, fleshy and silky. Its superb richness, lovely freshness and long, mellow finish combine to make this a great Château Fombrauge, with guaranteed ageing potential.
The vintage
Harvest from 17 September to 1 October 2020 (Merlot from 17 to 30 September, Cabernet Franc from 24 September to 1 October), after a heatwave between 12 and 16 September. Low fertility, climatic accidents, mildew pressure and then drought: the final yield is 21 hl/ha. Bottling: spring 2022. Consulting oenologist: Michel Rolland.
Blend of the 2020 vintage
- 96 % Merlot
- 4 % Cabernet franc
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2020 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with 92 % merlot, 8 % cabernet franc — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Figures from the 2020 sheet
- 21 hl/haYield
- 37 yrsVine age
Label
Winemaking
Filling of small-capacity (70 hl) wood, stainless steel and concrete tanks, by gravity. Pre-fermentation maceration of 4 to 8 days at 8°C. Entirely manual punching down.
Ageing
16 months' ageing: 35% in new barrels, 65% in one-year-old barrels.
Terroir
Château Fombrauge lies on the extension of the plateau and limestone slopes of Saint-Emilion; its large area favours a diversity of soils and exposures that give the wine of Fombrauge its complexity and identity. First, the front line of the main plateau, a relief typical of the Saint-Emilion vineyard on which Fombrauge sits, results from the partial erosion of the Tertiary formations by the rivers that surround it (the Dordogne and the Isle). The structure of this part is mainly composed of Tertiary starfish limestone (calcaire à astéries). The particularly high-quality south-facing slope consists of white clays where the Tertiary formations withstood this erosion. There are perched limestone plateaus, surrounded by slopes on which soft molassic rocks (clay mixed with limestone) outcrop.
An offer on Château Fombrauge 2020
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2020
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
For this vintage, the media library contains: packshots, labels. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.