Château Fonréaud Le Cygne 2024
£23.95
The wine
Bright, pure and aromatic, with citrus, peach and floral notes leading to a precise, vibrant palate. Crisp, linear acidity is balanced by a delicate creaminess, and the long, elegant finish carries a subtle touch of almond.
Le Cygne is the white wine of Château Fonréaud in Listrac-Médoc, first made in the early twentieth century by the Vicomtesse de Coulogne and named after the swan of her family, who built the château. It vanished in the late 1950s and was revived by the Chanfreau family in 1989. White wines from the Médoc are bottled as Bordeaux, and this one comes from the highest vineyard on the peninsula, on gravel over clay-limestone. Sauvignon Blanc leads, with Sémillon and Muscadelle, pressed as whole bunches, fermented in French oak and aged nine months on fine lees with gentle bâtonnage, 40% of the barrels new. 93 points from Jane Anson and 92 from Decanter.
The producer
Château Fonréaud
View all Château Fonréaud winesChâteau Fonréaud stands on the highest ground in the Médoc, 43 metres up at Listrac, its vineyard forming a natural amphitheatre around the house. The name comes from Font-réaux, the royal fountain: local legend holds that a twelfth-century King of England, husband of Eleanor of Aquitaine, stopped here to drink from the spring. The cellars date from the seventeenth century, and the château itself was built around 1850 by Henri Le Blanc de Mauvezin.
Léo Chanfreau bought the neglected estate in 1962, when just 17 hectares of tired vines remained. He replanted, built the concrete vats still partly in use today and rebuilt the south wing stone by stone. His great-grandsons Guillaume and Loïc Chanfreau now run vineyard and cellar together, as the fourth generation.
The soils are gravel over clay and limestone on well-drained slopes: gravel for finesse, limestone for tension and length. The elevation keeps the site cool and airy, which preserves freshness and reduces disease pressure. The estate is HVE certified and follows the Cousinié method, focused on the balance and natural resilience of the vine, and everything is picked by hand. Alongside its Listrac and Moulis reds, Fonréaud makes Le Cygne, a barrel-fermented white Bordeaux revived by the family in 1989.
