Though the greatness of a wine begins in the vineyard, this greatness is preserved and enhanced in the winery, where innumerable small details shape a wine’s path from grape to glass. At Château Fonplégade, we believe in innovation in the service of inspiration. With this in mind, we have completely renovated and revitalized our centuries-old winemaking facility, creating one of the most state-of-the-art wineries on Bordeaux’s Right Bank. Given all of the tools of great modern winemaking—from a perfect sorting system to precision temperature calibration during fermentation to a visionary cooperage program—our team is able to control every aspect of the winemaking process.
At the same time, we embrace modern techniques only when they are the best tools. We have also learned winemaking lessons from ages past—simple but important ideas, such as farming our vines organically to preserve the purity of the flavors, or picking by hand using small boxes to ensure that the fruit comes in pristine and undamaged condition. In the winery, we continue to handle our grapes using the gentlest means possible—using techniques such as gravity flow and hand punch-downs—and we ferment in numerous small lots to preserve the distinctive character of our vineyard’s 27 individual blocks. During aging, our wines benefit from a focus on the finest new French oak, with a pioneering barrel program that incorporates both traditional Bordeaux cooperage and classic Burgundy barrels, as well as the new "Fleur de Quintessence” cooperage—a barrel of incomparable quality that we partnered with renowned cooper Tonnellerie Quintessence to launch in 2009. As part of our focus on microvinifications, we also employ a half dozen egg-shaped concrete tanks—tools that allow us to express a pure, elegant and aromatic expression of our terroir.
Though each of our wines is as unique as a fingerprint, their creation is guided by the same artistry, ideals, and uncompromising commitment to quality. Whether crafting Château Fonplégade or Fleur de Fonplégade, the goal is the same. Guided by famed Oenologist Michel Rolland and our talented Winemaker Franck Jugelmann, we strive to create wines that embody the rich, distinctiveness of their vineyard origins.