Chateau Fongaban Cotes du Castillon 2000
Posted: 21:46 Sat 09 May 2009
A Cotes du Castillon, which is Right Bank Bordeaux next door to St Emillion and near Pomerol but nowhere near the price. I bought a case of this stuff several years ago and have left them to get on with it, checking one about three years ago, when it still needed a bit of time. Made from predomintely Merlot with a slug of Cab Sauv and some Cab Franc. Tested tonight because I wanted something softish and thought it about time the lesser Right Bank Bordeaux 2000 came out of its shell.
Decanted into a ship-style decanter and given a good bit of air but tasted fairly quickly from quite cool. Colour is very vibrant and dark and it slushes about a bit, not spectacularly viscous but weighty enough. Nose is very brambly with an almost basil sweet herbal note. In the mouth it is medium weight with a lot of unripe strawberries but a tobacco finish. It is a perfectly happy drink and I killed the bottle in an enjoyable manner. The rest will probably start to follow quite quickly now as I can't see this as a real long termer, it's no meant to be.
Like a lot of Right Bank satellite regions Cotes du Castillon for 2000 is coming good. Reasons to have room for wine - so you can hold lower tier stuff until it's ready and drink as house wine. This is a good example.
Decanted into a ship-style decanter and given a good bit of air but tasted fairly quickly from quite cool. Colour is very vibrant and dark and it slushes about a bit, not spectacularly viscous but weighty enough. Nose is very brambly with an almost basil sweet herbal note. In the mouth it is medium weight with a lot of unripe strawberries but a tobacco finish. It is a perfectly happy drink and I killed the bottle in an enjoyable manner. The rest will probably start to follow quite quickly now as I can't see this as a real long termer, it's no meant to be.
Like a lot of Right Bank satellite regions Cotes du Castillon for 2000 is coming good. Reasons to have room for wine - so you can hold lower tier stuff until it's ready and drink as house wine. This is a good example.