A brief history
My mother's family is one of the oldest winemaking families in the Central Médoc. Born Monique Rochette, she was raised at Listrac's Chateau Ducluzeau.
The estate had been in her family for several generations and is only a stone's throw from Fourcas-Borie. It was therefore with some trepidation, and great respect, that I began managing Fourcas-Borie in 2009. My priorities since then have been to make whatever improvements I can, to contemporize without changing the wine's true nature or disturbing the purity of the flavors found in the Listrac terroir.
And, much as I love hidden gems, my goal is to share the wines of this underestimated region with a wider audience.
Sitting on a gentle rise, at 45 meters (150 feet) above sea level, Listrac is on the limit of Landes County border. The word Listrac literally means edge, from the French lisière. It overlooks the Medoc peninsula and is only 25 kilometers from the Atlantic. When the wind blows from the west you can smell the ocean, adding a potential touch of iodine to the wine's flavors.
This is an area I feel paternal about, perhaps because it deserves extra attention and repays it so generously. If it were a person it would be a ribald Gascon Medoc: greedy, joyful and epicurean. The food is simple but spectacular: ceps and chanterelles, poultries and games, stews and confits, venison, woodcocks and wild boar. Fourcas-Borie's wines are the perfect foil: succulent, generous and rich, full of Merlot's black cherry and plum flavors, with a hint of freshly sharpened pencils and molasses from the Petit Verdot.
