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HISTORY
A pretty «Chartreuse» (architectural style) in the middle of a magnificent 3 hectares park, in the shadow of the bell tower of the Roman church of Listrac-Médoc. Chateau Fourcas Hosten is located in the heart of the peaceful village that gives its name to the appellation.
In 1810, Mr Hosten transferred the vineyard that he had inherited from his father - a lawyer in Bordeaux - to the Saint-Affrique family who created Chateau Fourcas Hosten and gave it a world reputation.
Since September 2006, the property has been owned by two brothers attentive to quality, Renaud and Laurent Momméja. It is in this spirit that they undertook an ambitious renovation project :
- a new storage building,
- a new vat room with concrete, wooden, and stainless steel vats,
- new cellars,
- the chartreuse totally renewed
- a major restructuring of the vineyard.
VINEYARD
The grape varieties are planted on 47 hectares according to each soil: Cabernets on Pyrenean gravel, Merlot on chalky-clay. These two soils give each grape variety its definition which is detected in the tasting. The plantation density : 8333 vines/ha. The vines are old of an average of 25 years.
• 56% Merlot
• 41% Cabernet Sauvignon
• 3% Cabernet Franc
The management of the vineyards has been improved over the years. Thinning of leaves, weeding of parcels has been the basis under which a healthy ripe vintage of mastered yield has been obtained.
Harvest : 75% handpicked, 25% mechanically with sorting on the vines.
VINIFICATION
Directrice technique : Mme Caroline Artaud
Oenologue conseil: M. Eric Boissenot
Before every harvest a plan is made by grape variety and vineyard plot. Then each bunch of grapes is rigorously selected before going into the fermentation vat. This selection per vineyard plot is followed throughout the vinificafion process. The temperature controlled vats enable a precise extraction of each quality element of the wine.
La Grande Demoiselle d’Hosten is aged for 30% in oak barrels, the rest being aged in vats.
The entire harvest is bottled at the chateau.
TASTING
LA GRANDE DEMOISELLE D'HOSTEN 2006
color : mashed raspberry
nose : fresh fruits
mouth : franc attack, nice minerality, soft tannins
final : well-balanced
LA GRANDE DEMOISELLE D'HOSTEN 2007
color ; garnet-red
nose : red fruits, very expressive
mouth : well-structured
final : slight vanilla notes
LA GRANDE DEMOISELLE D'HOSTEN 2008
color : deep red
nose : freshness
mouth : pleasant, round
final : harmonious
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