Château Lafleur, Pomerol, 2015

Name: Château Lafleur, Pomerol
Brand: Château Lafleur
Price: 6371.92 GBP

Available Vintages

all 1999 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks 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!

critic reviews

96+/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2015 Lafleur, like the bottles tasted earlier this year, is a little reluctant on the nose, gradually opening with slightly blacker fruit (in this larger format) as well as those enticing pencil shaving and black truffle aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, perhaps less silky than those I found in bottle but complex and harmonious. The cedar and graphite-tinged finish is backward yet compelling. Outstanding. Tasted from ex-château magnum at Kate & Kon's 40-Year vertical in Austria.

DRINKING WINDOW 2032 - 2065

date of review 09/2025

100/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Beautifully handled, with layers of grilled cocoa bean, caramel sweetness that places you squarely in Pomerol at the decade mark, pure pleasure, satin texture, fragrant cumin spice, edges of violets and crushed roses as it opens up through the glass. Exceptional, years ahead. Gorgeous. Just 13.5%abv in 2014, so this is a jump up in terms of ripeness, takes it on effortlessly. 20% new oak, Guinaudeau family owners.

DRINKING WINDOW 2025 - 2044

date of review 02/2025

100/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

Lafleur 2015 is a blend of 51% Merlot and 49% Cabernet Franc and has a medium to deep garnet color. It shoots from the glass with opulent scents of baked blackberries, warm plums, and tar with nuances of violets, licorice, dark chocolate, and crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is built like a brick house, featuring firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing on a lingering fragrant earth note.

DRINKING WINDOW 2024 - 2050

date of review 11/2022

100/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2015 Lafleur is a blend of 54% Cabernet Franc and 46% Merlot. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it's profoundly scented of plum preserves, chocolate-covered cherries and blueberry pie with nuances of black olives, lavender, unsmoked cigars and cast iron pan plus a touch of Indian spices. The rich, medium to full-bodied palate is completely packed with tightly wound fragrant earth, black fruit and exotic spice layers, supported by perfectly ripe, wonderfully velvety tannins and seamless freshness. The epically long finish delivers a sum that is greater than the many compelling characters imparted on the nose and palate, whispering promises of a whole myriad of provocative finishes to discover throughout this wine's very long future. This exquisite masterpiece is not to be missed.

DRINKING WINDOW 2024 - 2054

date of review 04/2018