Château Cap de Faugères: Tasting & Drinking
The wines of Château Cap de Faugères naturally share a house style with those of Château Faugères and Château Péby Faugères. Thus we should know what to expect here. Dark colours, plentiful textures, a chewy-grippy tannic backbone and overall a bold, firm, style. This certainly appears to be the case. In a couple of vintages I have also noted a somewhat meaty, gamey edge to the fruit character which lacked freshness as a result. Having said that, this was a characteristic found in more challenging vintages, such as 2013 (the worst vintage in Bordeaux for at least thirty years, so it is a little unfair to judge anybody on the results of this year) and 2004 (which was some time ago, before many of the changes described in my profile above came into play). In fact, perhaps we should regard the existence of a drinkable 2013 as a great success, such was the nature of the vintage, rather than worrying about nuances of fruit character.
Looking to more successful vintages, to my mind the greatest vintage for Bordeaux during the past couple of decades was 2005, and the wine of this vintage is certainly a success at Château Cap de Faugères. It shows the style I expect, with roasted fruit substance, with a deep and liquorice-infused concentration of fruit, the flavour profile leaning towards a brown spice substance. It is still very much a wine in the modern, ripe-fruit, extracted style, but an impressive one nevertheless. If this is your style of Bordeaux, then Château Cap de Faugères may well be an address worth knowing about, a source of substantial wines and also good value. (11/2/15)
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