Carefully supervised winemaking

At Château Fonroque, plots of Cabernet Franc grown on soils containing a majority of limestone bring elegance, length and structure to the wines; these elements also offset the natural roundness and generosity of Merlot.

Wines made here are naturally rich; they possess intense balance and complexity, giving an elegant, velvety-smooth sensation on the palate.  Their length is a guarantee of finely-balanced ageing. 

The reasoning applied to organic viticulture is naturally consistent with procedures for harvesting (hand-picked) and winemaking.  Gentle, precise techniques are used for handling the grapes and dealing with them once transformed and transferred to vats equipped with thermoregulation.  The vats are small because the winemaking process is completely in-line with the plot-by-plot management established in the vineyard.

Alcoholic fermentation is done slowly to encourage the wine's expression and complexity.
Depending on vats and vintages, maceration can last from fifteen to thirty days, a period during which extraction is supervised precisely to optimise the wine's elegance. 

Also, as the structure is gradually forming, it is important to encourage combinations and polymerizations that enable the texture to be “fine-tuned” and bring out silky sensations on the palate. 

Obtaining increasingly rich grapes, the use of the barrel must enable the wine to reveal its true expression, without being overpowered by the wood: in this way it preserves all its freshness during the next eighteen months.

During the maturation process, racking is done from barrel to barrel, without pumping.  In certain vintages and when necessary, wines are fined using “organically” produced albumen.

The wines are eventually bottled, without filtration.

Château Cartier, the estate's second wine, is made with batches whose finish is slightly less long and minerality not quite as distinct.  The second wine represents 30% of the total harvest.

Eventually, the vast number of high-quality procedures and the meticulous work carried out by the team at Château Fonroque have enabled a real equilibrium to be formed and maintained between the vineyard, its environment and its production.

“The very essence of our work is to seek to achieve the fragile but natural balance that exists between the elements and the environment.  It enables us to preserve these resources for future generations and provide the consumer with complete wellbeing.” Alain Moueix.