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  • Country ranking ?

    535
  • Producer ranking ?

    6
  • Decanting time

    4h
  • When to drink

    from 2025
  • Food Pairing

    Beef

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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97 DECANTER: "Easily as good as the 2015 at this estate, the 2018 may even prove to be better after some ageing. There is depth and concentration to the berry fruits, but also a fine quality to the tannins and a softness overall that suggests nothing was pushed, that all of this power is simply what was naturally given by the vintage. It´s very good quality, true to the confidence of the estate, pulsating with rich raspberry and damson notes and playing between a seductive gourmet edge and maintaining its limestone freshness. I have enjoyed a number of older vintages of this wine recently, and I feel pretty sure that this will grow into one of those wines that you are so happy to open after a few decades of ageing. 33hl/ha yield. 60% new oak."

96-99 WINESPECTATOR: "Dark plum and boysenberry fruit is laced with tobacco and chalk notes, while the fleshy grip slowly builds through the finish. This is seriously long, and though the fruit is gorgeous, the minerality steals the show in the end.—J.M."

96-97 JAMES SUCKLING: "This is one of the best wines I have had from here. Full-bodied yet focused and super dynamic. Tight and linear with fantastic length and energy at the end. Exciting." 

95-97 JEB DUNNUCK: "Tasted on two separate occasions, the 2018 Château Clos Fourtet is a beauty, offering a ripe, powerful style in its crème de cassis, spice box, liquid rock, and incense aromas and flavors. Checking in as a blend of 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon that will see 16 months in 60% new oak, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, loads of flesh, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It’s slightly more approachable and sexier than the Canon, which shares a similar terroir on the upper plateau, but it’s going to evolve beautifully for at least 20-25 years. It’s a beautiful wine very much in the style of the vintage." 

 

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The Story

 Clos Fourtet enjoys an ideal setting, with its 47 acres of walled vineyard atop a limestone-based plateau. Clos Fourtet was sold in 2001 by the the Lurton family for just under £42 million to the Cuvelier family. By lowering yields, encouraging malolactic fermentation in stainless-steel tanks and employing less new oak, Clos Fourtet shows greater precision. 

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Vintage 2018

Report and recommendations for the 2018 Bordeaux vintage

by Andrew Caillard MW

2018 is an exceptional year. Bordeaux whites and Sauternes are very good, but from an Australian perspective, the excitement is all in the red wines. All sub-regions produced examples of very good wines, but some performed better than others. Generally, the largest estates have made exemplary wines illustrating that the human factor and wealth can have a major impact on the terroir! Over the past few weeks I have tasted around 350-400 wines, sometimes in large format forums like UCG tastings or at various châteaux. These days it is difficult to taste wines blind, but color density, aromatic freshness, tannin density and overall balance are obvious indicators. In some cases, I tasted wines a few times, which allowed me to cross references.

 

The weather until a few days ago was clear with bright sunshine, warm days and a cool breeze. Temperatures have dropped now with more cloud cover and intermittent rain. Driving from Sauternes to St Emilion we passed through some light hail but not enough to cause too many problems. In two weeks, we saw dormant vines and trees come to life. The growing season starts a little early and, of course, people worry about the chance of frost. After the devastating frost episodes of 2017 and the challenges created by hail and mildew in 2018, there is a feeling that climate change could well have an unpredictable impact on future Bordeaux vintages.

 

We have tasted a good amount of primeur wines now. As usual the vintage will be exaggerated. The growing season was almost calamitous, but long hours of hot sunshine over the summer cleaned everything up and allowed the grapes to ripen very, very well. The colors, flavors, density and acidities are truly impressive and as a result the vintage is generally quite exceptional. It's difficult to truly understand overall crop losses, as growers are naturally quite cagey. But they vary from almost nothing to less than a third. At Ch Climens in Sauternes Barsac, I estimate that the harvest is around 20% of the average. When we know that this area lost its entire harvest in 2017 due to frost, the shock must be keenly felt. Mother Nature has been particularly cruel lately. The growing season story will inevitably create a negative impression, but few people will remember the details in years to come. They will only remember the wine. For some people with long memories, they believe the vintage is like 1947 or 1961. If so, it's not just an exceptional vintage, it's something beyond the norm. An immortal year. The concentration, weight and vitality of the wines are impressive. Despite the incredible density of tannins, saturated colors and flavors, the wines are actually quite easy to taste, indicating remarkable balance and life.

 

In my opinion, the strongest sub-regions are Pauillac and St Julien – both of which have produced wines of great consistency and classicism. They are powerfully expressive with pronounced ripe tannins and pure fruit flavors. The combination of better microclimatic conditions, wealth and physical resources contributed to the result. Ch Pontet Canet is an exception because of its approach to biodynamic viticulture. It suffered terribly from downy mildew and only produced a third of the harvest. The wine is distinctly different from wines like Ch Latour or Ch Pichon Lalande, but its overall buoyancy and fruit richness are convincing. It also represents something worthwhile and important.

 

I still think Pauilac is the benchmark for Bordeaux. Typically, the wines are extremely expressive with aromas of pure cedar and fine grainy tannins. This year, the wines are particularly dense and inky with abundant graphite tannins. They are not at all tense or soft and so when the tannins settle in, the wines will be exceptional.

There are many exceptional wines from Pauillac, including Ch Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Ch Pichon Longueville Baron, Ch Lynch Bages, Ch Batailley, Ch d’Armailhac and Ch Grand Puy Lacoste. The premier crus Ch Latour, Ch Mouton Rothschild and Ch Lafite Rothschild are very impressive. Their second wines Les Forts de Latour, Petit Mouton and Carruades are also of very high quality.

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

Ruby. Scented, blueberries, floral, detailed, minerals, violets, blackberries and spices nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, anise, blueberries, spices, layered, minerals, deep, lovely balance, goes on and on, long. 96-98

  • 98p

Deep crimson. Impressively focussed wine with fresh blackberry cassis plum aromas lovely graphite herb nuances and vanilla notes. Dense compact palate with deep sweet blackcurrant pastille fruits, blackberry notes and fine brambly textures, underlying vanilla roasted chestnut oak. Finishes firm and long. A very high calibre wine. 

  • 98p

Dark purple colour with violet hue and black core. Elegant nose with fine fruit, ripe blackcurrants and plums, dark cherries in the background. Mild spices and hints of toasting aroma in the background. On the palate well structured with ripe fruit, flowery components, balanced tannins, freshness and elegance. A convincing wine. 

  • 96p
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Information

Origin

St. Emilion, Bordeaux

Other wines from this producer

La Closerie de Fourtet

Inside Information

95-97 WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This is a beautifully structured wine with smooth tannins and supple acidity. Its hidden power is masked by the vivid Merlot fruit. With the fresh acidity and the fine tannins, this is a wine that will age well."

95-97 THE WINEADVOCATE: "Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Clos Fourtet is a little youthfully mute to begin. With coaxing, it opens out to notes of crushed blackberries, warm black plums and wild blueberries plus suggestions of forest floor, lavender, baking spices and potpourri. Full-bodied, the palate has an amazing texture of soft, plush tannins and oodles of freshness supporting the layer upon layer of berries and spices, finishing long and fragrant. Total time in barrel should run 16 months in 60% new and 40% one-year old barriques. The blend is 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Franc."

94-97 ANTONIO GALLONI: "One of the wines of the vintage, the 2018 Clos Fourtet is positively stunning. In the glass, the 2018 sizzles with tension and energy. A whole range of floral, mineral and red berry notes develop, but it is the wine´s exceptional sense of harmony that leaves the deepest impression. Consulting winemakers Stéphane Derenoncourt and Jean-Claude Berrouet turned out a glorious Clos Fourtet in 2018. Don´t miss it. The blend is 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc. Tasted three times."

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