Tiny yields malolactic in barrel aging on its lees and no fining or filtration produced an exotic full-throttle St.-Emilion boasting an explosive nose of blueberry pie lead pencil shavings black truffles camphor incense and toasty oak. Made in a borderline extreme style the wine is extracted and full-bodied with enormous quantities of fruit extract tannin and glycerin. The alcohol of just over 14% is not as high as I would have expected. I purchased the 2000 Magrez-Fombrauge and am thrilled by the way it is developing as it is displaying more complexity and nuances now than it did when it was released. I suspect the 2009 will do the same thing but on a slightly faster evolutionary track. Wines such as this tend to transform from blockbuster fruit bombs into far more civilized elegant and streamlined wines. The 2009 should be forgotten for 5-6 years and drunk over the following 25-30.

Equally deep in and color and youthful, the wine is smoky, rich, powerful and loaded with licorice, black cherry, espresso and earthy nuances that carry through from start to finish. Give this full, concentrated wine another 5 years to further integrate.

The 2009 Magrez-Fombrauge has a deep garnet core with little ageing on the rim. The bouquet is attractive with melted red berry fruit, black olive compote and light desiccated orange peel aromas, nicely defined and elegant in style. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, gentle grip, quite savory with Chinese 5-spice and white pepper sprinkled over the finish. It feels like some ripe Cabernet Franc here (even though it is 100% Merlot) and the aftertaste is commendably long. Very fine. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting. -- Neal Martin