L'Abeille de Fieuzal Rouge

Chateau de Fieuzal has always been one of our favorite Bordeaux properties here at Waterford – a steadfast, reliable, nicely priced Bordeaux that beautifully integrates classic French winemaking, Bordeaux terroir, ageability, and modern winemaking technology. The sum of these parts creates a wine that is simply superb, and often at a price that’s peers simply cannot match. And so it is the case today.

Fieuzal, so named for its thin, gravel-studded soils, sits on a gentle sloping gravel outcropping in Graves, Bordeaux. It can trace its existence back more than 500 years, to the 16^th century, and throughout all of that time, this location was recognized as one of the best for grape-growing because of its good drainage, due to the stones in the soil.

Throughout this time, the property has only had six owners – albeit 4 of them in the last fifty years. It has also been split multiple times but in 1995, the then-owner, Banque Popular, joined the property back together into its original 16^th century whole and began a program of renovation and experimentation, vinifying each and every single parcel and grape variety of Fieuzal separately, allowing total exploration to tailor-made wines.

In 2001, the Irish wine-loving couple Brenda and Lochlann Quinn bought Fieuzal and continued the tradition of investing in the property, bringing on the young Stephen Carrier to take over winemaking and Hubert de Bouärd of Chateau Angelus to handle consulting winemaking. The results of this now 20-year-long program has raised Fieuzal to the absolute top of the Graves elan. And here, with the l’Abeille, their second and more forward-drinking wine, the quality is fully evident:

As elegant as it is powerful, this wine reveals notes of roses, ripe strawberries, acacia blossom, sandalwood and young blueberries on the nose.  It is totally expressive of the terroir without trying too hard like so many sweet, alcoholic potations.  The body revolves around a graphite, blackberry expression while remaining lifted as well as rich – a combination that makes it oh so easy to drink.  It’s impeccable now, but will last at least decade or more in your cellar.

A top-notch, elite Graves producer of Bordeaux, drinking deliciously now. It just doesn’t get any better than this.