2025 Clos Fourtet Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé

EXCLUSIVE OFFER - AVAILABLE SPRING 2028.

Clos Fourtet 2025 confirms once again why this historic estate belongs to the absolute top of Saint-Émilion. The wine comes from the famous limestone plateau west of the medieval town and combines the concentration of a warm growing season with the freshness and tension so characteristic of these exceptional terroirs. The result is a vintage of great precision, remarkable purity, and excellent aging potential.

Clos Fourtet: top wine from the limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion

Since 1955, Clos Fourtet has belonged to the select group of Premier Grand Cru Classé wine estates in Saint-Émilion. The château is situated in an exceptional location on the highest part of the western limestone plateau, close to the historic Grandes Murailles. This location plays a crucial role in the style of the wine. The limestone soils act as a natural buffer against extreme weather conditions and ensure a combination of ripeness, freshness, and minerality.

The vineyard covers 22 hectares and is primarily planted with Merlot, supplemented with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The average age of the vines is approximately 35 years. Under the leadership of the Cuvelier family and with the support of experienced advisors, work here is carried out with great attention to terroir expression and precision in both the vineyard and the cellar.

The exceptional circumstances of the 2025 Bordeaux vintage

The 2025 growing season took place under particularly favorable conditions. A relatively dry spring was followed by a warm and sunny summer, while cool nights ensured that the grapes retained their freshness. The combination of sunshine hours, limited rainfall, and large temperature differences between day and night resulted in grapes with excellent aromatic concentration and a striking balance between ripeness and acidity.

Yields remained relatively low at approximately 28 hectoliters per hectare. The small berries provided great concentration and structure without the wine losing its elegance. Rain at the end of August ensured that the grapes could complete their ripening optimally. The harvest took place between September 9 and 22 under virtually ideal conditions.

The final blend consists of 84% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. With this, Clos Fourtet remains true to its distinctive style, in which ripe fruit, tension, and limestone influence take center stage.

How does Clos Fourtet 2025 taste?

Clos Fourtet 2025 presents itself with a deep color and a strikingly bright aromatic expression. On the nose, black cherries, cassis, ripe plums, and dark forest fruits dominate. Behind these follow refined notes of violets, graphite, wet stone, and subtle spices.

The taste combines power with refinement. The ripe fruit forms a concentrated core, while the limestone soils provide tension and precision. The tannins are abundant but remarkably fine in structure. This results in a wine with great depth and length without becoming heavy or sluggish.

What impresses most is the balance. Despite the warm vintage, the wine remains energetic and tightly defined. The finish is long, mineral, and refined, with notes of dark fruit, spices, and chalky freshness that linger for a long time. The style of 2025 seems built on purity, precision, and elegance, qualities often associated with the estate's greatest vintages.

Grape varieties, vinification and aging

The grapes are carefully selected before being processed as whole, uncrushed berries. Fermentation takes place in small, temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Through manual pigeage, a controlled extraction is achieved, with an emphasis on finesse and aromatic precision.

Following alcoholic fermentation, malolactic conversion takes place in tanks. Subsequently, the wine ages for 14 to 18 months in the château's underground cellars. This involves the use of a combination of new and used French oak barrels, supplemented by a small proportion of aging in amphorae. This approach supports the wine's structure without overpowering the purity of the fruit.

When to drink Clos Fourtet 2025?

Clos Fourtet 2025 possesses all the characteristics of a great cellar wine. The combination of low yields, concentrated fruit, limestone freshness, and refined tannins gives the wine impressive development potential. Although the wine will already provide much pleasure after a few years of bottle aging, its greatest potential clearly lies in the longer term.

Expected drinking window: 2033-2065+.