Peter Maude Fine Wines

2018, Clos Fourtet, SAINT-ÉMILION

$238

Bordeaux Blend: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc.

The 2018 Clos Fourtet has a wonderful bouquet of mixed red and black fruit mingled with graphite and melted tar, all very focused and well delineated. The well-proportioned palate delivers fine-grained tannins, a perfect bead of acidity and very pure black fruit laced with tobacco toward the finish. I maintain that it is less flamboyant than recent vintages, which suits it well. This is going to age beautifully. 95 Neal Martin, Vinous (2021).

The 2018 Clos Fourtet is one of the most elegant, refined wines of the vintage. Silky and aromatically expressive, Clos Fourtet is all grace. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, spice, menthol and sage all lift from the glass. Even with all of the natural richness of the year, Clos Fourtet sizzles with tension and delineation. Then again, that is the magic of Saint-Émilion plateau. Clos Fourtet is easy to look past in 2018. It is neither exuberant nor exotically ripe. Instead, everything is in reserve. The 2018 is a magical wine, that's all there is to it. Don't miss it. 98 Antonio Galloni, Vinous (2021).

Extremely concentrated blueberry and blackberry fruit, with a powerful core of freshness. This is an excellent Clos Fourtet that lives up to its promise en primeur. Will need a good decade to soften. A yield off 33hl/ha. 60% new oak. 97 Jane Anson, Decanter (2020). 

While the 2018 vintage got plenty of buzz, following the less heralded 2017, I remain less enthusiastic when compared to the stellar 2016. The 2018 has a more roasted fruit profile, albeit with impressive (and seductive) mid-palate concentration and a long finish. There is no denying the layers of ripe fruit, although the alcohol is felt more (same level as the 2016 vintage). 3.6pH. 95 Panos Kakaviatos, Decanter (2023).

Deep garnet-purple coloured, the 2018 Clos Fourtet opens with wonderfully pure, intense black fruit notes of ripe blackberries, crushed black cherries and warm plums, leading to suggestions of pencil lead, clove oil, black olives and aniseed. The medium to full-bodied palate is chock-full of muscular black fruits, delivering compelling vivacity and tension, framed by velvety tannins and finishing epically long and perfumed. The intense, bright, energetic fruit on this 2018 has been impeccably preserved. Stunning! 97 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate (2021).

Drinking Window: 2024 - 2044

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