Lafleur, Vin de France Rouge, 2025
Omri explained that spring was easy with no frost or mildew pressure. They had a beautiful flowering at the end of May and the water table was healthy. This underground reserve started to evaporate as the temperature rose. Cover crops were removed as they were competing for water and the height of the canopy was lowered several times, although the vines were allowed to grow horizontally to provide shade. The team also opened the soil every time there was any moisture to aid retention. Now we must address the elephant in the vineyard: Lafleur is a Vin de France in 2025. The quality is higher than ever, but given the extreme nature of some recent vintages, the Guinaudeaus decided they needed to "change to remain the same". People will no doubt generalise and say this is the end of dry farming at Lafleur. The reality is that only 19% of Lafleur vines, on the most gravelly sites in the north-west of the vineyard, were irrigated. And when we say irrigated, it was a very sparing amount only when the vines desperately needed it. The results can't be dismissed. Lafleur has once again made one of the most profound wines of the vintage. Opening with a dramatic bouquet, it's initially quite introverted, but with aeration it begins to reveal its treasures. Blackberry, damson, a light blueberry note and leafy cassis vie with truffle, clove and all spice. Dark fruit, sesame and the clack of gravel. With more air there’s a dried flower element too. The palate builds, silky yet dense and very controlled, a sense of power and drive through to a three- dimensional finish that grows and grows. Erudite yet a bit shy, but potentially mind-expanding. Impressive stuff!
critic reviews
The 2025 Lafleur was picked early, from August 26 to 28 and from September 10 to 12 for the Cabernet Franc. Of course, this is the first year when the wine is classified as Vin de France after water was added to the soil, contravening Pomerol's AC rules. Discussing at length with Baptiste Guinaudeau, whilst I can see that it would essentially resuscitate the parched vine, the amounts are too little to affect the wine when considering the actual rainfall figures. For sure, it has a bashful bouquet at first and demands time to really open in the glass, 10 to 15 minutes. Only then does it reveal enticing scents of blackcurrant, bilberry, crushed stone and iris flower, all beautifully defined and very succinct—quintessential Lafleur. The palate is medium-bodied and framed by chiselled tannins that lend this Pomerol beguiling symmetry. What really marks this Lafleur is its tremendous persistence on the finish. It just goes on and on. This is a great Lafleur, irrespective of what it took to get there.
High perfume, iris, peony, fragrant and finessed, a slow slow slow unroll of slate and crayon, saffron, grilled cumin, oyster shell, cassis pastille. Such a fabulous wine that has intense interest around it this year, after leaving the Pomerol AOC, and yet manages to shrug it off and simply concentrate on doing what it does best. 33% new oak. Harvest August 26 to September 12
The 2025 Lafleur is generous and expressive, bursting with aromas of sweet cherries and raspberries mingled with notions of licorice, anise and violets. Full-bodied, dense and muscular, with a fleshy attack that segues into an ample, layered core of primary fruit, it's built around plenty of sweet, powdery tannin. This is a large-scaled Lafleur endowed with everything in abundance.