Description
Château Saint-Nicolas, Fronsac
One of the most deeply pleasurable and illuminating wine discoveries of last year was a 1990s Right Banker that was in superb drinking condition. We’ve been on a mission to find another ever since, and—pardon the lack of humility—I think we’ve outdone ourselves. Sure, today’s Château Saint-Nicolas is a 1999 Bordeaux priced so low it may cause whiplash, but if you’re still pausing at the sight of “Fronsac” on the label, don’t. This Right Bank appellation might not dominate the contemporary airwaves, but the terroir is as historic and historically treasured as any.
In fact, today’s ’99 Fronsac, with its savory fruit and brilliant vigor, might have some Bordeaux-heads mistaking it as Saint-Émilion or Pomerol in a blind tasting. And they wouldn’t be so far off: Just a few miles west of these blockbuster Merlot appellations, you’ll find the wooded hillsides of Fronsac sprinkled with under-the-radar châteaux quietly churning out affordable, high-performance, shockingly age-worthy Bordeaux. Our exclusive shipment arrived directly from the cellar last month, so you can rest assured that provenance is impeccable and it’s brimming with life at the 23-year mark. NOTE: this mature, emphatically classic Bordeaux is only available here!
As in so many of Bordeaux’s lesser-known regions, Fronsac has been a hotbed of investment and revival—Château Saint-Nicolas being one of the foremost examples. Perched on the River Dordogne, Fronsac has the right soils and plenty of history—including one of Charlemagne’s ancient fortresses—to compete with its better-known neighbors. Located just west of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, across a small tributary of the Dordogne, Fronsac sits at a slightly higher elevation and features even more limestone soil than Saint-Émilion’s famed plateau (along with clay and sand).
Run by the Chevalier family for multiple generations, Saint-Nicolas’ 1999 bottling was sourced from 10 hectares of estate-owned vines averaging 45 years old. Grapes fermented in temperature-controlled vats and the juice was then transferred to a mixture of used and new French barriques. After bottling, they rested in a cool cellar in Bordeaux until we snatched them up earlier this year.
Though it certainly looks the part of a well-aged wine with its hazy brick-orange hue and variegated rim, the wine’s still-youthful aromatics will light up your senses. Still, in a blind tasting, I’m confidently calling this mature Bordeaux because I’ve had hundreds and hundreds and this is a genuinely classic representation.
I recommend standing the bottle upright several days prior to opening to allow the wine particulate to settle. When the time comes to extract the cork, use an ah-so opener to ensure it doesn’t crumble. Then, monitor each pour into Bordeaux stems closely to avoid sediment, and enjoy your bottle over the course of 2-3 hours. In that time, you’ll uncover dried red cherries, red and black plum skin, redcurrants, dried rose petals, bay leaf, wet gravel, baked clay, vintage leather, cigar wrapper, damp cedar, and light baking spices. For a 23-year-old Right Bank that doesn’t have brand recognition, I think everyone will be delightfully surprised by the sheer freshness in this wine. Enjoy your bottles within the next three years.
