Clos Fourtet Premier Grand Cru Classe B, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2019

20ha of prime St Emilion limestone, punching at the very top of its game. This is muscular, less exuberant than the exceptional 2018 but this is still easily one of the wines of the vintage, salinity and austerity but creamy in texture, with pure, well chiselled blueberry, blackberry and raspberry fruits with peony flowers on the finish. Biodynamic farming, but not certified. 38hl/h yield. 50% new oak, 2% amphoras.

Deliciously seductive nose, heady! Crystalline texture and purity here with a pulsing drive from start to finish. The fruit is super glossy and shiny, it feels precise and purposeful with blackcurrant and black cherries at the fore. Tannins are well integrated, just perceptible giving a nice weight and frame to the palate. Succulent and sophisticated.

The 2019 Clos Fourtet is another gem from the Right Bank that delivers the goods. From the upper, limestone plateau and always a bigger, richer wine than its neighbors (Canon, Beau-Séjour Bécot), it still shows incredible minerality and limestone character in its deep black cherry, currant, and mulberry fruits as well as scorched earth, chalky minerality, roasted herb, licorice, and white flower-like aromas and flavors. Rich, full-bodied, concentrated, and structured on the palate, it's flawlessly balanced, has ripe, broad, building tannins, an expansive mouthfeel, and a great, great finish. It needs a decade of bottle age, but it’s truly brilliant stuff.

Attractive aromas of wild berries, pencil shavings, vine smoke, black truffle and violets introduce the 2019 Clos Fourtet, a medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless wine with a concentrated core of fruit, beautifully refined tannins and lively acids, concluding with a long, saline finish. Elegant and complete, this is a brilliant wine from this 19-hectare vineyard situated on the limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion, just outside the village, which has been on a qualitative roll since the 2001 vintage.

A beautiful core of ripe fruit in the center palate with deep, dark-chocolate undertones. It’s full-bodied with layers of fruit and ripe tannins. Flavorful finish.

The 2019 Clos Fourtet is exotic and beguiling in the glass. Inky dark fruit, licorice, espresso, menthol and lavender all run through this sumptuous, beautifully resonant Saint-Émilion with bright mineral underpinnings that extend the finish effortlessly. A regal, exquisite wine, the 2019 has so much to offer. I can't wait to taste it in bottle.

The 2019 Clos Fourtet was picked between September 24 and October 10 at 38 hl/ha. This has a more backward, reticent bouquet compared to the '18, coquettishly revealing black cherries and blueberry fruit, with a little more florality. The palate is medium-bodied with velvety tannins, though as I remarked before, it needs a little more precision on the finish that prompts me to be more prudent with my score. Maybe this will improve, hence the plus sign. Tasted at the Clos Fourtet vertical in April 2023.