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Wine Tasting Adventure

2022 Château de Fontenille, Bordeaux Rouge - Liberty

£14.99 GBP
£14.99 GBP

Stéphane Defraine bought Château de Fontenille in 1989 and has gradually renovated this historic estate in the Entre-Deux-Mers. Vines have been grown at the property since the 13th century, with a UNESCO-protected pilgrimage route running through the vineyards to neighbouring Abbaye de la Sauve-Majeure, whose monks tended the vines for hundreds of years.

Stéphane is hugely passionate about the Entre-Deux-Mers region and is notably president of the local ‘syndicat’, representing the interests of the AOC’s estates and growers. Château de Fontenille now comprises 63 hectares of vines divided into 67 individual plots. Planted at an elevation of 110 metres, between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, the vineyard’s free-draining gravel and clay soils, coupled with the area's high winds, ensure healthy, balanced grapes packed with flavour at harvest.

Château de Fontenille’s Bordeaux Rouge is a classic Bordeaux blend of 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, half aged in oak barrels (one-third of which were new) and half in stainless steel tank. The unoaked Entre-Deux-Mers Blanc, made from vines with an average age of 17 years, is a blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Sauvignon Gris, 20% Semillon and 10% Muscadelle. It also undergoes some lees ageing to add texture and richness to the wine.

Château Fontenille’s Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Merlot, grown on south and south-east facing slopes which benefit from maximum sunlight exposure. The final wine is aged in new oak barrels for 12 months before bottling, providing a generous, rounded texture and notes of sweet spice and cinnamon. Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux is an appellation for excellent value red wines solely made in the area around Cadillac, at the southern end of the Entre-Deux-Mers.

The Château de Fontenille vineyards are situated at 110 metres above sea level in the Entre-Deux-Mers region between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers. The free-draining gravel and clay soils here, combined with the high winds blowing in from the Atlantic, result in intensely flavoured grapes that produce pure and expressive wines.

The 2022 growing season began with a mild, dry winter leading to early bud break, followed by a wet spring and rapid flowering in late May under warm, dry conditions. Despite intense summer heat and drought, the vines demonstrated exceptional resilience due to substantial 2021 water reserves, producing healthy grapes with excellent acidity-freshness balance.

The grapes were destemmed and crushed before undergoing fermentation in temperature-controlled, stainless-steel tanks. The varieties were vinified separately before being aged, half in French oak barrels, a percentage of which were new, the remainder in vats, prior to blending and bottling.

Bright ruby in colour. Produced in an approachable modern style, this is an elegant wine with lingering berry fruit notes. Well-structured, full bodied with characteristic smoky, cigar-box notes so typical of good red Bordeaux.