2019 | Chateau Lafleur | Les Perrieres

This is really spicy and fruity with black cherries and flowers on the nose. Hints of stems, too. Medium to full body with really fine tannins and salty and white-pepper character. Spicy and crushed-stone notes. Flavorful finish.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: A striking wine from the limestone plateau of Fronsac planted with massale selections from Lafleur, the 2019 Les Perrières de Lafleur is indecently good. Bursting with aromas of raspberries, violets, warm spices and rose petals, it's full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a racy, tensile profile and a long, intensely mineral finish. Les Perrières de Lafleur is compelling testimony to the primacy of vine genetics over age, as the Cabernet Franc here is a mere 3-4 years old and the Merlot 7-8, yet the resulting wine already boasts incredible intensity and character. It certainly puts the "Supérieur" in the appellation "Bordeaux Supérieur."

• Jeb Dunnuck: An incredible Fronsac that readers should seek out is the 2019 Les Perrieres De Lafleur, which comes from a massale selection of vines from Château Lafleur planted on the clay and limestone soils of the Fronsac plateau. A mix of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, it has a darker ruby hue to go with a gorgeous perfume of black raspberries, darker cherries, sappy herbs, flowers, and forest floor. Gorgeous on the palate as well, this medium to full-bodied beauty has ultra-fine tannins, beautiful overall balance, and a great finish. It's a joy to drink today, yet it has another 15+ years of longevity ahead of it.

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. Pensées de Lafleur is vinified in temperature controlled stainless steel and sees a lower proportion of new oak when maturing. Lafleur was founded in 1872 when Henri Greloud, the owner of Château Le Gay, bought the plot. It remains in the family and is now run his great, great grandchildren Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau.

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