Château Lafleur

Château Lafleur, Pomerol, 2020

Name: Château Lafleur, Pomerol
Brand: Château Lafleur
Price: 753.98 GBP

98/100

Inside Bordeaux

98/100

The Wine Independent

95.5/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

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in bond

Broking

2020
1x75cl
DP
£753.98

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

“To better understand the complexity of the wines crafted at Château Lafleur, one must first understand its vineyard. The vines at Château Lafleur are planted on top of three distinct soils: To the northwest, the sandy-clay gravels of Lafleur. To the south and east, the clay gravels of Lafleur. At the heart of the vineyard, the gravelly sands of Lafleur. This very rare association of soils allows us to explain in part the singularity of Château Lafleur. Next, the unique ensemble of grape varieties must be evoked, having the vineyard planted with equal parts of Bouchet and Merlot, which undoubtedly plays a major role in the complexity of Château Lafleur. The priceless genetic heritage of the vineyard at Lafleur, above all our old vine Bouchet, should be duly noted. Finally, we should pay tribute to the women and men who take part in the making of the wines of Société Civile du Château Lafleur. Baptiste and Julie joined us at the beginning of the new millennium, both carrying the same passion for subtleties, precision and finesse, which has always been our signature. With the passing of the years our little team has grown bigger and younger, today consisting of fifteen persons who employ all of their enthusiasm in the service of the different vineyards of Société Civile du Château Lafleur. We hold a unique and rare position in the Bordeaux landscape. Above all we are vignerons, present throughout the year in our vineyards and cellars, our goal is to understand and work with nature and climate as best as we can. Château Lafleur, based on the three pillars mentioned above, is a rare wine, bringing together in harmony both power and finesse. Château Lafleur 2020 : 46% Bouchet (Cabernet Franc) harvested on the 18th September and 54% Merlot harvested on the 4th and 10th September.” Jacques Guinaudeau, May 2021

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GUARANTEED PROVENANCE

Provenance in fine wine

When it comes to purchasing wine, provenance is of upmost importance. A wine’s history – where it’s sourced from and how it’s been stored – can have an enormous influence on the eventual enjoyment it provides. At Justerini & Brooks, we can trace nearly every case back to the domaine, estate or Château it originally came from; we ship from over 200 wine producers throughout the world.

Wines not bought directly from the vineyard are either sourced from trusted suppliers, with whom we share the same philosophy and rigour in buying, or from our own network of Cellarers customers. These customers’ wines are stored in optimal conditions in Octavian Corsham and, in the vast majority of cases, have been stored by us since the wine was first shipped. We do not purchase wine from auctions.

We feel it is equally important to for our customers that the case they buy and leave in storage with us is exactly the same case they subsequently have delivered. This may sound obvious and straightforward, yet we are one of very few merchants to have taken measures to ensure this.

We have created a system where every case is independent, thereby ensuring a trail of ownership and peace of mind for every customer.

The Journey

Justerinis ensures that every case of wine stored with Cellarers (Wines) Ltd has a unique identifier and customer’s name, almost unheard of in the industry as it is expensive to administer. These details are printed and placed on every case which is logged and recorded under your account name and kept in the world’s most renowned storage facility, Octavian Corsham.

This information is sent from our systems to the warehouse every day to ensure the trail of ownership is verified and upheld.

While customer reserves are stored in Corsham, our physical stocks are kept in Hoddesdon, further providing a geographical separation between customers’ wines with Cellarers and Justerinis’ own stock.

Further Reassurance

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is a legally separate limited company from Justerini & Brooks which currently holds approximately £450 million worth of customer reserves. It is fully insured to catastrophic loss. Many merchants will state that wine in their care is fully insured, but in reality this is on an individual case basis with insufficient cover for total loss as this is prohibitively expensive. The cover provided by Octavian and Justerini & Brooks is unmatched.

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is audited by PwC every year.

Critic Reviews

95.5/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

The 2020 Lafleur has quite a reduced nose that remains stoic even with vigorous swirling, though it offers attractive brambly red fruit and wilted rose petal scents. That probably sways me toward a lower score than I otherwise would give, because this Pomerol is notoriously backward in its youth. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid red fruit, curry leaf and black pepper notes. Quite structured on the finish, with moderate length, this feels as if it might have closed down. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

drinking window 2029 - 2055

date of review 11/2024

98/100

Lisa Perrotti-Brown,

The Wine Independent

The 2020 Lafleur is a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs lots and lots of patient swirling to coax out a slowly emerging perfume of kirsch, wild blueberries, juicy black plums, and lilacs, followed by wafts of tar, crushed rocks, Sichuan pepper, and wood smoke. The full-bodied black, blue, and red berry flavors grow in the mouth, allowing earth and mineral nuances to emerge, textured by velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epically long-lasting stone and licorice-laced flavors. This will need at least 10-15 years in bottle to reveal its cards, and personally I think it's holding onto a full house.

drinking window 2028 - 2065

date of review 03/2023

98/100

Jane Anson,

Inside Bordeaux

The 2020 vintage was less of a shock perhaps for Lafleur than many other estates - they travel less than many estates, and already spend much of their time in the vines. Stunning texture, knitted down but rippling with silk and velvet, opening up to show violet, cherry, mandarin, cocoa bean, black truffle, mint, stretches out langoriously, with pulses of electricity and points of energy, tension and sinewy tannins. Showcases an oyster shell salinity that don't usually associate with a solar vintage. They do such a great job here of illuminating individual flavours, of bringing definition to the overall palate, and this is a superb Lafleur. Hard to fault. Winemaker Baptiste Guineaudeau.

drinking window 2027 - 2050

date of review 02/2023

product details

Specifications

Country:

Region:

Appellation:

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style:

Grape Variety:

Merlot Cabernet Franc

abv:

13.5%

allergen information

This product may contain sulphites. Full allergen information is available upon request, please call our Customer Relations Team on +44 (0)20 7484 6430.