Frankrike

Ch. Lafleur

Chateau Lafleur Pomerol

Bordeaux

Pomerol

Deep garnet-brick in color, the 2014 Lafleur needs a lot of swirling to coax out subtle scents of forest floor, menthol, and baked cherries, with emerging suggestions of iron ore, incense, and potpourri. The medium to full-bodied palate is packed with seductive red and black berry preserves layers, framed by firm, rounded tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long and minerally.

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

Concentrated ruby in colour at the 10 year mark, and wow this is good, just mouth-filling black truffle, bilberry, olive tapendade, Cabernet Franc dominant in its floral violet and raspberry leaf curls, standing head and shoulders above most of the Pomerols in the vintage, lord of all it surveys. Has a sense of drama and restraint, then releases a saline juicy finish.

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Takes its time in the glass to unroll, as true in 2024 as in any other vintage of Lafleur. Dark fruit character, leafy cassis bud alongside blackcurrant, gunsmoke, poppy seeds, black tea, crayon, even the beginnings of white truffle. Remarkable how different the structure, fruit quality and tannins here are to many others in the vintage - if you are planning to secure any of the big names, this should be on your shortlist. Builds in intensity in the glass, certainly you don't need to worry if you are a collector and don't want to miss a vintage. Harvest 20 to 30 September. They did no green harvesting here, and with the terroir plus careful work in the vineyard, the yields are in mid to high 30s. Lafleur team working under Julie and Baptiste Guinaudeau. 25% new oak.

Iris and violet flowers greet you on the opening beats, and it's a little more open at this early stage than is sometimes the case with this most profound of wines. Combines deep and creamy cassis and blueberry fruits with pumice-scraping tannins, vibrant and humming through the palate. There are, as ever, hidden depths here that show through the cocoa bean and espresso as it opens up, and this still needs a good 8 to 10 years before reaching its peak. 25% new oak for ageing.

A blend of 49% Merlot and 51% Bouchet (Cabernet Franc), with a pH of 3.8, Lafleur 2022 has a deep garnet-purple color. The nose is incredibly backward and closed, slowly unfurling to offer glimpses at plum pudding, baked black plums, and dark chocolate, followed by subtle nuances of licorice, violets, cast-iron pan, and Indian spices, with a touch of wood smoke. The medium to full-bodied palate is built like a skyscraper, with very firm, very fine-grained tannins and plenty of freshness supporting the tightly wound black fruits and earthy layers, finishing with incredible length. It will need a lot of time.

Takes its time, holds itself back, then hugs the palate, keeps its grip on your taste buds. Liqourice, iris, tobacco, violet, cassis and spiced plum, with traces of white pepper, tomato leaf and a curl of gunsmoke, full of sculpted tannins. This will take a few years reach its peak, as it runs against the usual feel of the vintage. Harvest September 17 to October 2. No chaptilisation. 12 nights of frost risk in 2021 but they successfully battled it and it is fairly similar to a normal year in terms of yield.

The 2020 Lafleur is a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs lots and lots of patient swirling to coax out a slowly emerging perfume of kirsch, wild blueberries, juicy black plums, and lilacs, followed by wafts of tar, crushed rocks, Sichuan pepper, and wood smoke. The full-bodied black, blue, and red berry flavors grow in the mouth, allowing earth and mineral nuances to emerge, textured by velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epically long-lasting stone and licorice-laced flavors. This will need at least 10-15 years in bottle to reveal its cards, and personally I think it's holding onto a full house.

Made from 53% Merlot and 47% Bouchet (Cabernet Franc), the 2019 Lafleur is deep garnet-purple in color. It slowly grows in the glass, emerging with scents of blueberry compote, prunes, and dark chocolate, followed by suggestions of garrigue, cedar, and wild sage. The full-bodied palate is firm, grainy, and hedonic, featuring loads of savory nuances and finishing on a lingering aniseed note.

Always a wine that requires time in bottle, and the 2018 is extremely closed down at three years old. Cabernet Franc dominates in expression, with layers of cool blueberry and blackcurrant fruits, needing a good 30 minutes in the glass to begin to open up and let out the raspberry leaf, peony floral notes. Packed in among the fine tannins are fennel, soy, smoked earth and slate, and this is a stunning Lafleur, from those carefully, thoughfully tended 4.5ha of vines. 25% new oak.

Stunning aromatic intensity curling out of the glass, violets and peonies, just a gorgeous wine that is hard to resist even at only eight years old, with plenty of time ahead before it fully softens. Luscious opening, then flooded with liqourice, black chocolate, cocoa beans, sage, linear, with contained power that grips on to the palate. 20% new oak, Guinaudeau family owners.

Medium garnet in color, the 2013 Lafleur starts off quite herbal, with notions of rosemary and wild sage giving way to a core of raspberry coulis and kirsch, plus hints of crushed rocks, lavender, and tobacco leaf. The medium-bodied palate delivers a good core of fruit with an herbal undercurrent and firm, chewy tannins, finishing savory.

The 2012 Lafleur is medium to deep garnet colored. It features profound scents of dried cherries, prunes, and wild thyme plus underlying suggestions of camphor, iron ore, and cumin seed. The medium to full-bodied palate is rich and multi-layered, supported by rounded tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with an herbal lift.

Delivers Lafleur electricity, if still a little serious at almost 20 years old. This remains a Cabernet Franc dominant vintage in its feel and aromatics, if not in blend, and the austerity of the early years has not entirely disappeared. Give it a few moments to unwind and show those seductive brushed tannins that cushion grilled black fruits, slate, graphite, smoked earth, cumin, black pepper, steel, violets and roses. Jacques Guinaudeau owner and winemaker, and this was still just four vintages since he had become sole owner, following 15 years renting from his aunts (first both, then one) the Robin sisters. Harvest October 8 to 14, after a challenging vintage that needed the attention to detail that Lafleur always delivers.

I tried to restrain myself, sipping this rare and stunning wine slowly but surely, but it was almost impossible not to down it in one, it was just so good. Supple and finely-boned tannins, a ton of white truffle and tobacco notes, gentle smoked earth, tannins still holding on to the now fully softened red fruits. Shared by a generous friend at 67 Pall Mall - and even luckier, I was simply walking past their table with lucky timing! Jacques Guinaudeau had arrived at the estate just two years earlier, in 1984, leasing the vines from his aunt Marie Robin. It took decades to come around, but right now it is singing.

2024	Ingen prisIkke tilgjengelig	Spektakulær
2023	Ingen prisIkke tilgjengelig	Spektakulær
2022	Ingen prisIkke tilgjengelig	Spektakulær
2021	Ingen prisTilgjengelig	Spektakulær
2020	Ingen prisTilgjengelig	Spektakulær

Kategori	Rødvin
Polnummer
Produsent	Ch. Lafleur
Årgang	2014
Land	Frankrike, Bordeaux, Pomerol
Flaskestørrelse	75 cl

Alkoholnivå	%
Syre	%
Sukker	g/l

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