critic reviews
The 2023 Clos Fourtet is very well-defined on the nose, a mixture of red and black fruit, crushed stone, cedar and light, minty aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins. Quite citrus-fresh, tensile, a little lower in pH perhaps than its peers, which lends this palpable energy and brightness on the finish. Excellent.
The 2023 Clos Fourtet is deep garnet-purple in color. It requires quite a lot of swirling to coax out fragrant notes of redcurrant jelly, kirsch, wild blueberries, and violets followed by hints of cinnamon stick, star anise, cumin seed, and fallen leaves. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers intense, vibrant red berry and baking spice flavors, supported by fine-grained tannins and jaw-dropping tension, finishing with great length and poise. This is a real head-turner. The blend is 87% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, with pH 3.50.
Starts right out of the gate with fragrant white flowers, lime zest freshness, scraping pumice stone limestone feel, strong Clos Fourtet character coming through, with cassis and black cherry fruits, a whirl of peony and iris flowers, inching forward step by step through the palate. Aged in 2% amphora, 45% new oak, with berries destemmed but uncrushed befpre fermenting. Stephane Derenoncourt consultant.
The 2023 Clos Fourtet is especially suave and refined this year, wafting from the glass with deep aromas of red berries, licorice, violets and pencil shavings, framed by a nicely integrated patina of new oak. Medium to full-bodied, supple and layered, with a velvety attack that segues into a bright, precise mid-palate, it's pure and lively, concluding with a mineral finish.