Featured Wine

Chateau Fourcas Dupre 1999

£23 a bottle

or £130 for a wooden case of 6.

It is increasingly hard to find good claret with a decent maturity.   At 12 years old this is at its peak and is drinking perfectly and is definately at its best right now.

1999 was a challenging vintage with heavy storms in August.  This raised and well drained part of Medoc did not suffer in the same was as other areas.  A bit lighter than the big, over-fruity 2005 makes it perfect to drink at around a decade in bottle. 

History

There were already vines in the area called "Fourcas" at the beginning of the XVIII century, as can be seen on the maps drawn by the King's cartographers.

The chateau was called Cru until Jean Baptiste Antoine Dupré, solicitor at the Appeal Court of Bordeaux, bought it in 1843.

It  was with Alex Laffont, discerning oenophile and life-long friend, that Guy Pages bought 2000 shares on the 24th November 1970 and became director.

His son, Patrice Pages, succeeded him in 1985 with the same mindset, eye for detail, passion and knowhow. As a result, the wines of Chateau Fourcas Dupre have never stopped Improving over the last 30 years. Chateau Fourcas Dupre, first of the nineteenth century Bourgeois was classed as “Bourgeois Vintage Superior” in 1932 and 2003.

The vineyard

The area planted with vines at Chateau Fourcas Dupre is 46 acres in one parcel. Situated between Moulis and Saint Julien, Listrac is called "the roof of the Médoc".  As a result of this, the vineyard has excellent natural drainage, the wind and the proximity of the forest limit the climatic excesses allowing slow ripening of the grapes.

The Chateau Fourcas Dupre soils are a surprising mixture of gravel, clay and limestone. Giving a Pyrenean gravelly quality to the wine

Grape varieties grown are Cabernet Sauvignon (44%), Merlot (44%), Cabernet Franc (10%) and Petit Verdot (2%). The average age of our vines is over 30 years and the planting density of the is 8300 per hectare.

The vineyard is farmed with a “respectful” method (mechanical weeding, grassing, organic fertilizer and restoration of the microbiological life of the soil).

This unique soil gives the wines a typical character of complex minerality, with touches of smoke, and the ability to age remarkably well.