Ha, it’s good to be loved!
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
As a postscript, I opened a bottle of Roches-Neuves FDP 2017 to compare with the rest of the Jean Faure.
The Jean Faure did fine, but the Roches-Neuves was on another level:
The nose is already very complex, full of rose hips, red cherries, hints of spice, then some blackcurrant. In the mouth, the vivacity hits first - the trademark crunchy red fruit, but then it spreads out across the palate, a lithe blend of red cherries and redcurrants, then progressive waves of blueberry, blackberry and wild strawberry, before a crisp, elegant finish. Incredible stuff, already delicious but which will be better still in a few more years from now.
Compared to the 2018 FDP tasted recently, the 2017 is just as good but more accessible. The 2018 is a good bet if you’re 40 or 50. The 2017 is a better bet if you’re 60 (like me) or more!
I’m increasingly impressed by the 2017 vintage in the Loire - it’s certainly ripe enough, but more restrained than the 2018. I’ve a feeling that it’s going to be a good bet at auction in the future, rather like Bordeaux 2001 vs Bordeaux 2000.
Anyway, going back to the Jean Faure, it tasted much more Bordelais next to the Roches-Neuves, more straitlaced, thicker, perhaps less complex, but still very appealing.
Had the 2005 Jean Faure many moons ago. It was about $25 back then. Drank them up a little over 10 years ago. Tasty wine!
I think it was about 50% CF. 95% is quite the outlier!
This is really helpful, thanks!
I also like 2017, but am finding some 2018s that are too ripe, too extracted. I had a 2018 Plouzeau - not the FDP - that was close to not drinkable for me. Will try it again tonight.
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Thanks for the note Julian. Just picked up a few bottles of the 2019 on close out ($36) here in the US at K&L. “Only” 65% Cab Franc but hopefully it’s as nice as your 2017. Interesting note from WK on the background of this wine:
As a result of a bitter divorce, Jean Faure wasn’t replanted to Merlot like so many Saint-Émilion estates were in the 1950s and '60s, so old-vine Cabernet Franc dominates—and is now the source of a massale selection.
Awesome Vince, thanks for the heads up that KNL has this, I just grabbed some myself. And thanks to @Julian_Marshall for bringing this little Cabernet franc gem to our attention!
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The consultant here is actually Thomas Duclos, FYI, the man behind the likes of Canon, the revolution at Troplong Mondot, La Conseillante, Figeac, Giscours etc etc…
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Thanks William - that explains why I liked it! I don’t know where I got the idea that is was De Boüard, must have been in la RVF.
Jean Faure is one of my favourites of the many under the radar wines coming out of St Emilion these days. With their new cellar now finished it should mean that the quality will only move in one direction. A vertical of recent vintages last year showed impressively. While I believe perhaps in a longer distance for 19 and 20, the 17 certainly held its own.
On a side note, the 2017s in general are performing far over early critical expectations in my experience. Time and again, from estate to estate, 17 stops you in your tracks. In many cases this is specially true if compared directly against 2018 (and for me personally, in most cases…)
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Aha , Jean Faure . The old winemaker was Michel Amard who’s best wine was the 1982 . He claimed his wine was as good as Cheval Blanc … but his most famous action was to spit in a decanter full of Petrus when he was presenting his wine here in Belgium .
Neal Martin over at Vinous did an article on Jean Faure a while back:
Enjoy if you have a subscription. Cheers
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I should have known better than to click on this thread. 10 out of 10 on the “enabler” scale. Just ordered 3 of the 2019 from K&L…
This / same. We drink very little by way of bordeaux varietals to begin with, not to mention that cab franc is the least preferred of any of 'em. 
I went through a bunch of the '05 after meeting the new proprietor pouring at Moore Brothers. It seemed very promising - they were convinced this was a gem of a terroir (near Cheval, as mentioned) that just needed some investment to get back to its potential. The '05 was lovely on release though I must admit it didn’t hold on in the cellar all that well. Still, I’m glad to see the investment might be paying off after all this time.
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I love reading notes and conversation threads about this sort of thing, a wine most of us have probably not heard of. Big thanks to all the contributors on this one.
Ok boys, just popped the 2019. Thanking @Julian_Marshall - my Brit doppelgänger - for introducing us to this little gem. It’s delish. So refreshing. No blockbuster, just flat out fresh and tasty. Enjoying it now with some greasy Cuban fried pork over rice. The racy acids and red fruit vein in this wine cut right through that fat. Love the herbal presence on this wine. Has a menthol top-note that reminds me of that 2011 Magdelaine that I was drinking like Koolaide until I realized that was the last of its kind! Tannins on this wine are soft, not chewy, this wine is more about crunchy red fruits. I do not know how this wine ages but do not think it is a wine you have to wait 10, 15 or more years. I could be wrong, but I will try the next in 4-5.
(92 pts.)
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niiiiiice
Cool - talk about cross-pollination! Or Transatlantic pollination! Glad you like the 19 - it’s always a relief when something I rave about pleases others. It must be tough being a proper wine writer, such a responsibility when people buy the stuff you recommend. I shall look out for some 19 myself now.
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Finished the remainder last night with my son, also popped a 2010 Chateau La Providence. The Pomerol was clearly a step up, but my son Nick preferred the Jean Faure.
Great to see that you’re getting Nick into wine - quite right too and with an excellent teacher. Only my youngest daughter is showing signs of following in my footsteps, the other three so far not really interested.