Château Lafleur

Les Pensées, Pomerol, 2020

Name: Les Pensées, Pomerol
Brand: Château Lafleur
Price: 1171.22 GBP

93/100

Inside Bordeaux

96/100

The Wine Independent

94/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

delivery

in bond

portfolio

Last Few
2020
3x1.5L
DP
£1,171.22

Broking

2020
3x75cl
DP
£489.61
2020
3x75cl
DP
£537.61
2020
3x75cl
DP
£579.61
2020
3x75cl
DP
£609.61
2020
6x75cl
DP
£1,099.22

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

Not tasted tasted by Justerinis and Brooks due to travel restrictions. Please find the thoughts and words of Jacques Guinaudeau below: “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. Les Pensées 2020 : 29% Bouchet (Cabernet Franc) harvested on the 18th September and 71% Merlot harvested on the 12th September.” Jacques Guinaudeau, May 2021

delivery information

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

96/100

Lisa Perrotti-Brown,

The Wine Independent

A blend of 71% Merlot and 29% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Pensees de Lafleur comes from the clay plots in the Lafleur vineyard. Deep purple-black in color, it is a little subdued to start, requiring a good shake to wake up notes of licorice, chargrill, fertile loam, and dark chocolate, giving way to a core of baked plums, boysenberry preserves, and cast-iron pan. The palate is full-bodied and densely packed with layer upon layer of black and blue fruit accented by earthy and mineral nuances. It is framed with exquisitely ripe tannins and lovely freshness to restrain the opulent fruit, and finishes on a lingering ferrous note.

drinking window 2027 - 2057

date of review 03/2023

93/100

Jane Anson,

Inside Bordeaux

Generous aromatics, richly textured, powerful and earthy, signature Pomerol with the deft touch of Lafleur. Opens wide and generous and then tightens and grips. This is a gorgeous wine filled with black cherry, damson, mocha, orange zest, all with a whisper of aniseed bitterness that stops the fruit from being overly sweet.

drinking window 2024 - 2040

date of review 02/2023

94/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

The 2020 Les Pensées has a somewhat flamboyant bouquet with very pure black cherries, iodine, blueberry and a touch of glycerin. Wonderful definition. It seems to "grow" in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a structured opening, almost Left Bank in style, just a hint of dark chocolate infusing the black fruit, a healthy dash of black pepper with gentle grip towards the mineral-driven finish. This is a seriously fine Pomerol that will give 20-30 years of drinking pleasure.

drinking window 2025 - 2045

date of review 02/2023

product details

Specifications

Country:

Region:

Appellation:

Producer:

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.