Château de Ferrand: Tasting & Drinking
Château de Ferrand has been a property worth following in recent years, as both the style and the quality of the wine has shifted significantly. Being one of the less renowned of all the grand cru classé properties in St Emilion, I suspect these developments will have passed many by.
Historically, I would have said the wines of Château de Ferrand would be of most interest to those who prefer the more modern, fruit-rich, bold and texturally polished style of Bordeaux. Merlot dominated with a light seasoning of Cabernet Franc and the occasional splash of Cabernet Sauvignon, the two Cabernets having minimal impact on the style. The extractions felt confident in the glass, and the wines tended towards rather plump middles, the tannic structure giving the wine a rather robust presence in the mouth, and the finish could show, to my tender tastebuds, a slightly warm character which might suggest a rather rich presence of alcohol. A number of vintages, including 2016 and 2017, declare 15% on the label.
Things really changed in 2017, with the arrival of Gonzague Lurton, who stepped into his managerial role just one week before the harvest. The shift began; Axel Marchal came on board to help with the blending, and the wines now feel a little more classically styled, with more Cabernet Franc in the blend, and the alcohols are lower. They remain confident in character, still with plenty of dark colour and tanin-wrapped palates, but the wines feel so much more coherent than they used to. Subsequent developments, including reinvestment in the cellars and a move to organics, can only have helped cement in place these improvements.
