Overview

Chateau Fourcas-Hosten is arguably the finest producer in Listrac, one of the 6 village wine appellations of the Haut Medoc.

From 1971 to 2006 it was owned by Schroder & Schyler, the Bordeaux negociant firm that also owns Chateau Kirwan. In 2006 Chateau Fourcas Hosten was sold to two members of the Hermes luxury-goods family, the brothers Laurent and Renaud Mommeja.

The property consists of a chateau in the centre of the village of Listrac, where the vineyard soil is clay and limestone, and a gravel plot in Fourcas, a nearby hamlet.

There are 47 hectares of vines altogether. The vines include Merlot, largely confined to the clay soils, whereas the gravel is favoured by the two Cabernets, with Cabernet Sauvignon covering 23 hectares and 2 hectares of Cabernet Franc. The wine-estate manager is Caroline Artaud with assistance from Oenologist Eric Boissenot.

The wine is a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The grand vin is Chateau Fourcas Hosten, matured 12 months in oak barrels. The second wine is called Les Cedres d'Hosten. Until 2010 Fourcas-Hosten produced classic, muscular, broody and remarkably ageworthy wines that appealed particularly to claret traditionalists. The style is now evolving into becoming approachable earlier.