Wine Words & Video Tape

Wine, Words and Videotape

Fine Wine Review site

Château Franc-Mayne

Address: 14 La Gomerie RD 243, 33330 St Emilion

Telephone: +33 (0)5 57 24 62 61

E-mail: info@chateaufrancmayne.com

Website: www.chateaufrancmayne.com

Vineyard/Terroir: Château Franc-Mayne is planted on 7 hectares on the clay limestone plateau and clay sand on the vineyards at the foot of the slope. Planted with 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. Estate classified as a Grand Cru Classé.

Winemaking/Elévage: Aged on lees in barrel, 60% of which are new for between 16-18 months depending on the vintage.

Tasting notes:

  • 2015 Deep and arterial; glossy edge; ripe black fruits; liquorice and strawberry jam; soft entry on the palate; very ripe and late picked style; lacks a little definition; little dry and extracted on the finish currently but will doubtless meld in barrel. [90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 14% alc]. Drink 2021-2028. 87-89
  • 2014 Deep and saturated look; fruitcake tones; spicy plum and prune; very ripe; liquorice; glossy entry; oak on the palate; very hard in the middle currently; lots of chewy extract and guts but feeling very raw and extracted at present. See how it settles. Extracted and oaked style certainly. [90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 13.5% alc, 50% new oak]. Drink 2019-2028. 5. Tasted UGC 1st April ’15. 84-87?
  • 2013 Deep and saturated look; figs; lifted and worked in feel; some liqourice; palate has sweetness and extract but there is dryness here and it ends up feeling rather chewy, chunky and over-extracted on the finish. May settle but I feel this has been pushed way too far. [90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc]. Tasted April 2, 2014 UGC. 83-85
  • 2012 Dark in the glass; liquorice and spice on the nose; some menthol tones on the palate; depth here and density with chewy fruit tones; rich and saturated style. Drink now-2022. 89+ UGC Oct ’14 [Earlier note] Pretty saturated; healthy looking; nice pretty fruit; plump and ripe Merlot here; not too jammy; enticing; some lift; supple on the palate with a little resin; pretty chewy finish but good effort 90% Merlot 10% Cabernet Franc 87-89+ UGC Wednesday April 10, 2013
  • 2011 Deep looking; lifted and spicy; ripe fruit, lots of extract and chewy tannin. Some bite on the finish. A mouthful certainly but lacks finesse. Drink 2015-2021. 87 UGC Oct ’13 [Earlier note] Thick and dark looking in the glass; ripe and satiny nose, lots of red fruits; touch of Ribena; pretty super ripe; some marzipan fatness; quite spicy palate, herbs; some wet rocks; dry finish. Little jammy for me and some dryness but overall it works. Tasted UGC 4//4/12 87-89/100
  • 2010 Deep and arterial; some spice; fruit cake; some velvet; thick and ripe palate and lots of saturation of flavour; Cabernet Franc [10%] adds freshness to the Merlot [90%]; very good effort. Usually find this estate’s wines a bit plodding, yes there’s plenty of chew and extract but there is life too. 91+ [Earlier] Deep and saturated black red; thick, ripe and spicy, lots of obvious concentration on the nose; supple attack initially and then the tannins – dense – but very chewy and tannic at the back. Bit overdone? May settle 85-87?/100 6 April 2011 UGC
  • 2009 Dense, dark and arterial looking; some leaf and lift, red fruits and strawberry tones; ripe and very thick on the palate; dense, menthol; thick and dense; very Napa style; some marzipan tones and tar, almost verging on Chateauneuf. Bit too thick for me to be amongst the very best but will definitely appeal to some. 88-90/100 Oct ‘11 [Earlier] Dense, very ripe, plummy nose; some toast. Attractive and full. Feels enticing. Palate quite sturdy. Extraction. Falls away a bit. Early days. Lots of guts but lots of extraction. [Later] Very jammy nose; quite attractive if super ripe; but palate feels over extracted and alcoholic. Will it settle or remain disjointed? 88-90?/100
  • 2008 Deep colour; again ripeness on the nose, some chocolate, not fresh and flowery but more secondary and feels a bit ‘worked’; some sturdy notes on the palate with lots of extract and seemingly lots of alcohol; lots of flavour and quite intense, chunky palate. Lots of effort have gone into this 88-90/100 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc UGC Oct ‘11
  • 2007 Mid red; some depth and intensity to the nose; attractive palate; quite seductive and intense with good structure with some attractive red fruits on palate and nicely integrated oak. Very good. 90-92+/100 UGC tasting Oct ‘09

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