Château de Fieuzal 2010 - Grand Cru Classé de Graves

Bettane & Desseauve

About wine:

It’s all about the aromatic complexity, freshness, and balance of this beautiful Fieuzal, which is full of character and potential. We love its very ripe red fruit, notes of sweet spices, fine-grained tannins, rich flavor, and long, fresh finish.

About the estate:

For many years, this estate was renowned first and foremost for its white wine—one of the most well-rounded in Léognan—and later for its red, which, at its best, is one of the finest expressions of the Pessac-Léognan character. The past decade has seen the return of Fieuzal white to its former glory. The new, state-of-the-art cellars, equipped with numerous small tanks of varying capacities—made of concrete, stainless steel, or wood—now allow Stephen Carrier, the director, to craft wines of the highest caliber.

Guide Hachette des vins

About wine:

This historic estate was acquired at the beginning of this century by businessman Lochlann Quinn, who joins the ranks of the many Irishmen who have contributed to the history of Bordeaux’s châteaux. The owners have high ambitions for Fieuzal, which was equipped with a new winery in 2011. The estate’s reds, dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon (70%), also include a portion of Petit Verdot (15%). Still very young and strongly marked by luxurious oak, the 2010 demonstrates through its solid tannic structure, its volume, and its harmonious aromas of ripe fruit, cinnamon, cocoa, and roasted notes that it has everything it needs to become a truly fine wine within five to ten years.

Guide des Vins Gault & Millau

About wine:

It whispers, fades away, and reappears: it is subtle. It has a salty, even iodine-like quality, with a diaphanous, almost evanescent texture. An impressive, slender ballerina, gracefully stretched from her toes to the sky.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About wine:

In the more tannic style typical of Pessac-Léognan, this wine offers appealing and elegant notes of plum, fig, tobacco leaf, and redcurrant. Medium-bodied, it is elegant, rich, and persistent on the palate. The tannins are still relatively firm, and the wine needs 4 to 6 years of cellaring. It should be cellared for at least two decades or more.

About the estate:

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About wine:

The red wine has a body we haven't seen in a long time.

About the estate:

This classified growth, located in the very south of Léognan, produced some of Bordeaux’s finest white wines in the 1980s. After being sold to Banque Populaire in 1994, Fieuzal declined until 2001. That was the year Irish businessman Lochlann Quinn acquired it, then hired Stephen Carrier, originally from Champagne, as director. From then on, the estate regained its excellent standing, with a clear focus on body, structure, and tannic elegance in the reds, and freshness following the arrival of consultant Thomas Duclos. With some setbacks (2013) and major successes (2008), the whites are gradually regaining their full-bodied, intense character and aging potential.

Wine Spectator

James Suckling