Château Ferrière 2019

Jane Anson - Inside Bordeaux

Vinum Wine Magazine

Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider

Clearly, this is the best vintage of Chateau Ferriere ever produced. Black raspberries and flowers with tobacco leaf are what you find on the nose. The wine is medium-bodied, soft, silky, and fresh, with a beautiful purity of fruit on the palate that carries through to the bright, vibrant, spicy finish. The wine is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Drink from 2026-2050.

VertdeVin

The nose is fruity and offers some power in its richness, nice grain and purity. There are notes of fleshy blackcurrant, crushed/confitured raspberry and more slightly crushed redcurrant combined with hints of violet, liquorice and a fine touch of colas. The palate is fruity, fresh, balanced and offers a nice juiciness/crunchiness of fruit, a tangy/juicy frame and purity. On the palate this wine expresses crunchy cherry, crunchy redcurrant and slightly jammy red berry notes combined with juicy/acidic blackberry and hints of blue berry, cola, caramelisation and a subtle vanilla edge. The tannins are precise and smooth. Good length. Nice juiciness and freshness of the fruit. A discreet hint of eucalyptus on the finish.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Striking aromas of sweet wild berries, violets, dark chocolate and loamy soil introduce the 2019 Ferrière, a full-bodied, velvety and concentrated wine that’s seamless and complete, with a rich, dramatic core of fruit, lively acids and a long, resonant finish. From biodynamic-farmed clay-rich gravels, this 18-hectare estate (formerly leased to Château Lascombes) possesses an usually high proportion of old vines, with fully one-third of their vineyards over 70 years of age.

Owned by Claire Villars-Lurton, this 18-hectare estate was long rented out to Château Lascombes. Reconstituted as an independent entity in 1992, fully one-third of the vineyards are over 70 years old, including four hectares of very old vine Merlot that make an important contribution to the blend. Farming is certified organic and biodynamic, and the estate's clay-rich gravels and old vines naturally deliver a rich, fleshy, rather powerful but structurally refined style of Margaux. It's an address that deserves to be much better known, and the 2019 has turned out brilliantly.

Decanter Magazine

There feels to be a real step change in Ferrière this year, with a greater density of fruit and a richer seam of freshness. They have made a few changes in the vineyard, most notably pulling up Merlot that they felt wasn't working and leaving only the oldest Merlots that date back to the 1950s. We may also be feeling the impact of the clay in the gravel soils that helped hold freshness in this hot summer, as well as a reductive style of working in the cellar, bringing SO2 additions down low. Whatever it is, there is violet edging to the colour, a deliciously sappy, energetic quality to the wine, with bright berry fruits, chocolate shavings and a gentle gunsmoke edge that brings interest and grace. 40% new oak, 20% amphoras and cement eggs, and the rest in one year barrels. 3% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 3.6ph. A relatively small yield of 30hl/ha.

James Suckling

Blackberries, blackcurrants, violets, bitter chocolate, clay and gravel on the nose. It’s medium-bodied with firm, very fine and integrated tannins. Beautiful texture. Structured, yet with a soft, supple feel. Subtle. 20% in concrete eggs. 70% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot and 5% petit verdot. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Try in 2025.