2011 | Chateau Lafleur | Chateau les Pensees de Lafleur

Complex aromas of blackberry and whole white truffles with hints of wet earth and stones. Full body and structured with gorgeous, velvety tannins, but reserved and polished. Very long finish with fabulous fruit.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: This tiny jewel of a property has produced a beautifully rich 2011 Lafleur from a blend of 53% Cabernet Franc and 47% Merlot. The Merlot was picked between August 31 and September 12, and the Cabernet Franc between September 22-23. The 2011 reveals a floral-scented bouquet with notions of kirsch, licorice and black raspberries. It is medium to full-bodied with terrific fruit purity, good minerality and slightly more acidity and freshness than are found in such ripe vintages as 2009 and 2010. At present, the Guinandeau family, the owners, are using between 50-60% new oak in an attempt to emphasize their great terroir and the extraordinary fruit quality they achieve from both the old vine Cabernet Franc and Merlot. This cuvee possesses some serious tannin and will undoubtedly need 5-6 years of cellaring after its release, but it should be one of the longer-lived wines of the vintage, lasting 25+ years.

• James Suckling: Complex aromas of blackberry and whole white truffles with hints of wet earth and stones. Full body and structured with gorgeous, velvety tannins, but reserved and polished. Very long finish with fabulous fruit. Goes on for minutes. This is all class: the red wine of the vintage. Better in 2019.

Producer Information

Château Lafleur is a tiny (4.5ha, 11 acres) family-run property in the Pomerol appellation on Bordeaux's Right Bank. Its grand vin of the same name is known for its concentration, creamy texture, intense black fruits and spicy character. Famous US wine critic Robert Parker has called it "one of the most distinctive, most exotic, and greatest wines – not only in Pomerol, but in the world". The wine is also powerfully structured and needs more cellaring than most wines in the appellation – in the best vintages it can last half a century. Thanks in part to regular praise from Parker, who first visited in 1975, it is one of the most sought-after and highest priced wines in the world. The vineyard sits on deep layers of gravel on the edge of the Pomerol plateau, next to the La Fleur-Pétrus estate – another of the region's blue-chip wineries. The Lafleur vineyard is planted 50/50 between Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with an unusually high proportion of the latter which contributes greatly to the wine's capacity (and need) for ageing. Yields are very low even by the standards of Pomerol, and only around 1000 cases (9000 liters) are made each year, and typically up to 400 of these may be released as Pensées de Lafleur. This label was created for the poor 1987 vintage when no grand vin was released, though now focuses on specific plots and is not regarded by the producers as a second wine. In the tiny farmhouse cellar, grapes for Lafleur are fermented in small cement vats and undergo malolactic fermentation in barrel. The wine is aged for around 15 months in French oak barrels, of which around 50 are new oak.

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