Château Fonroque

The château

Fonroque lies northwest of the town, on the limestone plateau and a hillside facing west. It is an old name: Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, had it in 1868 under the baroness de Malet at 8 to 12 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and by 1908, under Hubert Chatonnet, it was making 80. The guide of that year called it an old property of the Malet-Roquefort family, 100 journaux in one piece (the journal being an old measure of about 0.32 hectares), some 500 meters from the Palais Cardinal and the Grandes Murailles.

Adèle and Jean Moueix bought it in 1931. Alain Moueix, an agricultural engineer and enologist, inherited it from his father in 2001 and turned to biodynamics at once; the vineyard, in Biodyvin from 2005, was certified organic in 2006 and biodynamic in 2008. In July 2017 the estate was sold to the Guillard family, who asked Alain Moueix to stay on as consultant. He did, and the Moueix line here now runs past 90 years. In March 2026 the Guillards put Fonroque and their Pomerol estate, Château Mazeyres, under Judith Barat, keeping the technical teams and Alain Moueix in place. The classification has never wavered: Grand Cru Classé in the first list of 1955 and in every revision since, in 1969, 1986, 1996, 2006, 2012 and September 2022.

The 17.6 hectares of vines grow on 3 soils: a limestone plateau with 30 to 60 centimeters of topsoil, a hillside of clay and limestone over deeper rock, and sandy, loamy clay carrying iron oxide lower down. The planting is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, and the Cabernet Franc is gaining share, with 60 ares put back in 2015, 95 in 2018 and 66 in 2019, while Merlot has been replanted on the plateau. A new vat room, in use from the 2021 vintage, doubled the number of tanks so that each soil could be fermented in a vat sized to its exact volume. The tanks are cement, cast on chosen phases of the moon, under natural light from above, and kept at temperature without blowing air across the room. The estate makes about 120,000 bottles; Château Cartier, all Merlot, is the second wine.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, northwest of the town, on the plateau and a west-facing hillside

Classification

Grand Cru Classé in every list, 1955 to 2022

Owners

The Guillard family, since July 2017

Direction

Judith Barat, over Fonroque and Château Mazeyres, since March 2026

Consultant

Alain Moueix, owner from 2001 to 2017

Vineyard

17.6 hectares of vines

Soil

Limestone plateau with 30 to 60 centimeters of topsoil; clay and limestone hillside; sandy, loamy clay with iron oxide Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

Merlot 80%, Cabernet Franc 20%

Farming

Biodyvin from 2005; certified organic in 2006, biodynamic in 2008

Cellar

Vat room of the 2021 vintage; cement tanks sized to each soil

Production

About 120,000 bottles

Wines

Château Fonroque; Château Cartier

In history

8 to 12 tonneaux in 1868; 80 in 1908, on 100 journaux in one piece