Château Fombrauge – Château Fombrauge 1977

Château Fombrauge 1977, a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru from what is widely regarded as a horrible Bordeaux vintage. This was part of a blind tasting focused on Merlot-based wines, where it served as a counterpoint to more recent efforts like the Château La Croix 2021 from Pomerol. Tasted blind, the guests all immediately noticed the green, unripe character – a hallmark of the difficult 1977 growing season. Worth noting that in this era, before Bernard Magrez acquired Fombrauge in 1999 and restructured the vineyards, the estate also included Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec alongside Merlot and Cabernet Franc, so the blend here would have been quite different from what Fombrauge produces today. Regardless of the exact composition, the wine clearly suffered from insufficient ripeness, and there's not much to redeem it beyond historical curiosity.