The 2017 Fonbadet is plush, sumptuous and super- expressive, with no hard edges and plenty of immediacy. Blue and purplish fruit, menthol, licorice, lavender, spice and leather are all front and center. Readers will find a creamy, textured Pauillac built on fruit presence and juiciness. Best of all, the 2017 can be enjoyed without much fuss pretty much upon release. I loved it. Tasted two times.

The Peyronie family guards the independence of this 50-acre vineyard among the classed growth estates. The wine it produces comes from a Pauillac blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot. It is a ripe wine, balanced and with some good aging ahead of it. Drink the wine from 2023.

Made by the same team as Chateau Pauillac, the 2017 Chateau Fonbadet offers classy notes of blackcurrants, leafy herbs/tobacco, damp earth, and underbrush. Based on 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, brought up 40% new French oak, it's a medium-bodied, elegant wine with lively acidity, present, ripe tannins, and solid overall balance. Drink it any time over the coming 10-15 years. Tasted twice.

The 2017 Fonbadet is composed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, aged for 18 months in French oak, 40% new. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it comes bounding out of the glass with expressive Flack Forest cake, blueberry coulis and redcurrant jelly scents backed up by suggestions of rosehip tea, forest floor, potpourri and mossy tree bark. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant, juicy and refreshing, with bags of nuanced black and red berry flavors and a perfumed finish. Yum!

Solid and direct, with an iron note buried in the core of cassis and bitter cherry flavors. Subtle floral and sanguine accents chime through the fruit on the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Drink now through 2024. 3,500 cases made, 1,000 cases imported.