A vintage rich in contrasts: that's how you could summarize 2020 at Fonroque. A warm, humid, sometimes almost tropical spring, which caused considerable fungal pressure. Just in time for the start of the calendar summer, it became dry and hot. Then at the end of August there was finally rainfall and thunderstorms, which brought the vintage to a conciliatory end after the far too dry summer. Nevertheless, a year with low yields, which are well below the long-term average. In 2020, the cuvée at Fonroque consisted of 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc. Lots of dark fruit on the first nose: juice of blueberries, elderberries and blackberries. Clear lactic notes on the palate: boiled milk, yogurt and rock candy. Very spicy: elderberry bush, bay leaf, dried rosemary and menthol. Add to that the roasted aromas from the wooden barrel aging (30% of the wine is new barriques): dark tobacco, black pepper, roasted coffee beans. What makes the wine so amazing is that it remains very juicy despite all the ripe, dark fruit and its captivating melt. The herbal notes reinforce this herbal, cool impression. The limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion, on which the vines are located, has a salty, iodine minerality. In combination with the fine-grained, already relatively soft tannins, this gives the wine even more punch and aftertaste. Very elegant and distinctive. Delivered in a wooden box of 6.