TN: 99 Fombrauge

[Michael-P]

99 Fombrauge (December 2008 in Lyon) – clear, plum/prune red with touches of brown and orange tints throughout. Sweet and sour nose of cherry juice and grape juice. Immediate pour: smooth, soft, good mouth feel weight, not a lot of fruit but interesting touches of leather, smoke and tea. Also overly acidic and disjointed, very jumpy complexity, all fading quite fast. [85] An hour later, sweet and spicy, medium bodied with blackberry and cherry, red cayenne pepper, chewy tannic finish that still fades quite fast. [88] Two hours later, simple but rich red fruits, with a chewy tannic but fast fading finish. That lack of finish makes me think its not going to cellar long very well, but it needs more time to settle down and balance more. Much better than plonk and a nice simple and enjoyable example of Bordeaux wine. 87

[AlexR]

Michael,

This is either the largest or second largest estate in Saint-Emilion (the other biggie is Pavie).

I have found Fombrauge to be in a "modern" style, and a bit overblown, but I have never tried the vintage you drank.

Best regards,
Alex R.

[billfgrady]

Agreed with the fact that this is typically overblown, although I actually really liked the 2000 Fombrauge. On the other hand, the 2003 was pretty awful (high alcohol content, big, etc.). I got rid of my 2003s, as I don't think additional time was going to help this fundamentally flawed (at least according to my palate) wine.

[Michael-P]

Alex: Thanks for the info. Knowing nothing about it, I just pulled it off the Carrefour shelf in Lyon to try. Looks like I need to spend more time in Bordeaux to learn these simple facts!

[jal]

I loved the 2004, and that one was not modern and overblown.