Tasting Note:
Baptiste explained that 2015 for him was the return of Merlot to Lafleur. Since his first vintage (2001), every year has been dominated by Cabernet Franc. In 2015 the Cabernets are no less impressive, but the Merlots reached new highs and offer something texturally that we haven't seen in Lafleur before. Produced from 51% Merlot and 49% Cabernet Franc, the bouquet is regal, offering notes of loganberry, spice, sloe, complex minerals, Valrhona chocolate, savoury earthy aromas and mulberry. On the palate it is equally lavish with wonderfully textured fruit - vital, intense, rippling and honed. Black cherry liqueur, cranberry, tayberry; beautifully delineated flavours tease the palate. Although there is a lot of material here, it is an effortless, graceful wine with a saline quality to the fruit and a real sense of tension. The flavours last and develop as the fine china tannins caress the mouth. This is a Lafleur of great stature and complexity, but we will perhaps remember it most for the seductive texture, sumptuous fruit and the effortless charm that the Merlots have provided this year. Wonderful!