Château Lafleur Gazin, Pomerol, 2023
This Jean-Pierre Moueix estate is well situated between Gazin and the original plot of La Fleur Petrus. The 8.5 hectare vineyard on clay, silt and gravel soils. This 100% Merlot cuvee is rather sombre and brooding with a core of earthy mulberry fruit, gravelly cassis and liquorice. There's plenty of extract, it just feels like it needs to knit together and lighten up a bit. Maybe a bit too ambitious for its own good. We'll see.
critic reviews
Well balanced, attractive Pomerol depths and sweetness of blackberry fruit, the bitter chocolate, crushed mint and roasted coffee bean adding contrast and vibrancy. Harvest September 7 to 19, 50% new oak for ageing. one point upscore.
The 2023 Lafleur-Gazin has an airy and open bouquet with strawberry and Morello cherry scents, but it is actually too "airy" for me. Hey, this ain't Pinot Noir! The palate restores order with a bit of backbone you want from your Pomerol, dark berry fruit laced with white pepper and sage, although it needs a little more depth and grip on the finish that pulls up a bit short.
The 2023 Lafleur-Gazin, 100% Merlot, is deep garnet-purple in color. It offers up a very pretty perfume of roses, kirsch, and raspberry pie followed by hints of black tea and bay leaves. The medium-bodied palate is plush and juicy, with a lively line and red berry-laced finish.
The Mouiex firm acquired this estate in 2021 (after cultivating it in "fermage" since 1974) and sold off the less optimally situated parcels lying on sandy soils. The 2023 Lafleur-Gazin offers up aromas of dark berries, cherries, baked plums and mint, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered palate that's quite deep and extracted, perhaps reflecting an understandable ambition to signal new seriousness at this address. It's 100% Merlot.