Wine Words & Video Tape

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Château Fourcas Hosten

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Address: Rue de l’eglise, 33480 Listrac-Medoc

Telephone: +33 (0)5 56 58 01 15

E-mail: fourcas@club-internet.fr

Website: www.chateaufourcashosten.com

Château Fourcas Hosten is more elegant than Fourcas Dupré in my experience, finer in some ways but it is also a bit leaner. In some of the older bottles I’ve had age only seems to let the tannins climb ascendant. Very good wines have been made here in 2009 and 2010 and there’s a good effort here in 2011 also. Recently bought by brothers Renaud and Laurent Mommeja. The second wine is called Les Cedres d’Hosten. 

Vineyard/Terrior: 47 hectares on two-thirds Pyrenean gravel one-third clay-limestone/clay/hardpan subsoil. Planted with equal quantites of Cabernet and Merlot [45%] and 10% Cabernet Franc. 8500 vines per hectare.

Winemaking/Elévage: 12 months in barrel, one third new each year.

Tasting notes:

  • 2015 Deep at core; earthy red at edge; colour tight to rim; some spices and herbal notes; menthol; black cherry fruit on the palate; quite a lot of tannin at the end; little hard at present. Little extracted but will settle. [54% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc, 13% alc, 39% new oak]. Drink 2022-2027. 86-88+
  • 2014 Mid depth; glossy; purple edge; ripe plums; some cassis; little prune and black cherry; ripe; glossy palate; some wet rocks and chalk; full and extracted; chewy. Fresh acidity on the finish. [60% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc]. Tasted UGC 31 March ’15. Drink 2020-2028. 88-90+
  • 2013 Deep and healthy looking; purple at edge; some wood on the nose with stalky blackcurrant tones; little reductive; quite grippy palate; there is material here but a leaner and more sappy style than Dupre. Little dry on the finish. Will come good but a fraction austere at present. [55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc]. Drink 2018-2025. Tasted 3/4/14 UGCB. 84-86
  • 2012 Mid depth; quite bold; some spice and fresh blackcurrant tones; soft and easy on the palate – full of fruit and quite round and approachable for this estate. Drink 2015-2025. 88 UGC Oct ’14 [Earlier note] Deep and saturated; much more oak on the nose; toasty and espresso notes; some fruit layers beneath; oak very present on the palate; feels disjointed; a certain hardness. Fruit masked a bit at present. Lots of guts and material on the palate but pretty grippy and lots of tannin from the wood. Should settle. 85-87 UGC Tuesday April 9 2013
  • 2011 Deep looking; earth, fresh blackcurrants and steely note; quite pure; chewy palate but not over acidic or extracted; nicely handled on the palate. Has harmony. Drink 2015-2026 87 Tasted Oct ’13 UGCB London [Earlier note] Deep and earthy looking; vibrant edge; earthy, meaty nose, spices and blackcurrants; sweeter palate, lots of guts and chew; tannins feel softer here; not a bad effort. Slight streak of green here but this works overall. Satisfying finish. Tasted UGC. 86-88 UGC April 2012
  • 2010 Deep and glossy looking; more blackcurrant purity here than Dupre, some spice, chocolate and coffee highlights; nicely balanced palate, a little sinewy maybe but nice tension between the fruit and the sappy qualities. Needs three to five years. 87+ UGC Nov ’12 [Earlier Primeurs note] 2010 Deep and saturated; ripe and attractive nose with some sophistication; blackcurrant, oak, some liquorice and some perfume too [violets]; intense palate, quite dense but good grip and nice balance. Still in the tight Listrac style but well done. Some grip 88+/100 Tasted 5 April 2011 at UGC. [Second tasting] Deep and dense; attractive nose; lots of blackcurrants and cassis; some stones and minerals; nice entry and density; concentration here without too much hardness. Good palate. Pretty good effort in tannin management. Length good too. 88-90/100 Tasted 7 April 2011 at UGC
  • 2009 Earthy edge; deep colour; leafy and lifted; some minty notes with blackcurrants beneath; attractive and open; mid weight palate, balanced and attractive wine this; depth and chew but this is really good. Will last of course but very forward and attractive now. 90+/100 UGC Oct ’11 [Earlier note] 2009 Deep and inky, blackcurrants and minerals, almost Pauillac like; some leaf; would be very happy with this myself; palate sturdy, some pretty oak influence, but with depth; less obviously fleshy than the Haut-Medocs and the wines of Moulis; more tight-fisted but very good. 88-90/100 Tasted 30th March ’10 UGC Primeur tastings.
  • 2008 Mid depth, some purple at edge; earth and wet stone, quite meaty with some savour; quite chunky palate with tannins and acid but some density of fruit and extract to carry these I think; tobacco and oak and blackcurrants. Needs time but lots to chew on here. Pretty good 87+/100 
  • 2001 Deep red; attractive nose of earth, meat and ripe cab and a tension between austerity and richness. Attractive balanced palate, little short on the finish. A good sturdy wine. 85/100 Apr ‘07
  • 2000 Good colour, attractive dense nose with depth, tightish palate though feels fleshier than the Fourcas Dupre in this vintage. Dense blackcurrant fruit. Mid weight. Still needs time. 86/100 Sept ‘07
  • 1996 Good depth; closed; palate taught, tight structure, good acid, firm. Should age well and flesh out. Quite hard presently. 85/100 Sept ‘00
  • 1995 Red at edge, depth to core; initially earth, beefy edge but with that slight dusty tannin note; some beef and guts to the palate but a little dry tannin on the finish. Little austere and lacks generosity and mid-palate richness [the style and the terrior]. Bit hard. 82-83/100 Oct ‘05

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