2020 Château Lafleur Pomerol
| Type of Wine | Red |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | |
| Appellation | Pomerol |
| Winery | |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Grape | , |
| Content (Alc) | 0.75 ltr (14.5%) |
| Drink window | 2028 - 2065 |
Low Stock
Only 2 left
Description
Château Lafleur is located in the Pomerol appellation on the right bank of the Gironde River, which is known for producing some of the world's most elegant and refined wines. The Pomerol appellation is known for its Merlot-based wines, and Château Lafleur is no exception. Château Lafleur's vineyards are relatively small, covering just over 4 hectares. They are planted with approximately 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc, making it unique in that Cabernet Franc plays an equal role alongside Merlot in its blends. The winemaking process at Château Lafleur is meticulous and traditional. The grapes are hand-harvested and sorted to ensure that only the finest fruit is used. Fermentation takes place in small oak barrels and the wines are aged in French oak barrels, with a high percentage of new oak, to enhance their structure and complexity. Château Lafleur is known for its red wines because of their complexity, elegance and aging potential. The estate produces two main wines called Château Lafleur and Les Pensées de Lafleur. The main wine, Château Lafleur, is one of the most sought after and rarest wines in the world. The second wine, Les Pensées de Lafleur, is made from younger vines and is more approachable at a younger age.
The 2020 Lafleur is matured in 30% new oak, the rest, for the first time, used in Grand Village for 8 months to reduce the oak influence. It was bottled in April 2022 after two months of settling in large stainless steel. It has a nose with stunning delineation and terroir expression. There is a strong minerality with aromas of flint and basalt. The palate is medium-bodied with fine but firm tannins, intense black fruit mixed with dark chocolate that ebbs with aeration and gets after some time to reveal more floral aromas. There is a sense of symmetry on the finish and an extraordinarily long aftertaste, while the freshness and vitality are maintained throughout. Simply wonderful.
FACT : The wine is in our conditioned Wine Warehouse and if you come to pick up the wine you will often also receive a nice discount. You will see the possible discount immediately if you choose Pick up on the Checkout page. We are located almost next to the Rijksweg with plenty of parking. Click here for address.
Specifications
| Type of Wine | Red |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Appellation | Pomerol |
| Icons | Icon France |
| Winery | Chateau Lafleur |
| Grape | Cabernet Franc, Merlot |
| Biological certified | No |
| Natural wine | No |
| Vegan | No |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Drinking as of | 2028 |
| Drinking till | 2065 |
| Alcohol % | 14.5 |
| Alcohol free/low | No |
| Content | 0.75 ltr |
| Oak aging | Yes |
| Sparkling | No |
| Dessert wine | No |
| Closure | Cork |
| Parker rating | 99 |
| James Suckling rating | 98 |
| Vinous rating | 99 |
| Tasting Profiles | Aards, Complex, Droog, Houtgerijpt, Krachtig, Rood fruit, Soepel, Tannines |
| Drink moments | Indruk maken, Lekker luxe, Open haard |
Professional Reviews
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 99
Reviewed by:
William Kelley
Release Price:
NA
Drink Date:
2030 - 2065
One of the wines of the vintage, but likely to prove slower evolving and more introverted than its 2019 counterpart, the 2020 Lafleur unwinds in the glass with aromas of cherries, raspberries, kirsch, black truffle, orange zest and vine smoke. Full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, it's deep and concentrated, with a tightly wound core of fruit framed by rich, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, saline finish. This is another magical bottle from an estate that just seems to do everything right.
Where to begin when singing the praises of Château Lafleur and its stewards, the Guinaudeau family? At this address, rare seriousness and attention to detail, informed by a deep engagement with Bordeaux's past and present, meets a superb terroir, planted almost entirely with old massal selections of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, which has never seen pesticides or herbicides. The result, somewhat predictably, is one of Bordeaux's very greatest wines, but also, given its Cabernet preponderance and soils richer in gravel than in clay, a rather anomalous Pomerol.
But that's a teleological narrative: Lafleur is what it is today as much by accident as by design, for its former proprietors, the Robin sisters, simply didn't change anything between the death of their father in 1947 and 1985, when Jacques Guinaudeau took the reins. After the famous 1956 frosts, when much of Bordeaux was replanted (often at lower densities and with inferior vine genetics, emphasizing Merlot at the expense of less productive cépages), the Robins did nothing; they only adopted tractors when oxen became unobtainable. By 1985, some 30% of the vineyard's vines were dead, and those that remained were contorted by maladroit pruning. The upside to this more or less benevolent neglect was (besides wines of extraordinary concentration and intensity) an unspoiled genetic patrimony and living soils. What was missing was consistency.
Jacques Guinaudeau changed that. He replanted missing vines but found that they didn't taste like Lafleur, so he embarked upon a massal selection program to preserve Lafleur's unique vine genetics. And determined to no longer submit to the ups and downs of good and bad vintages, he introduced (in 1987) what was initially a second wine, Les Pensées de Lafleur, which became, by 1999, a wine in its own right. Ever since, Lafleur derives from the two gravel "banks" that are diagonally bisected by an old watercourse, which is the source of Les Pensées. The soils in this old watercourse are richer in clay and more humid (a permanent cover crop distinguishes these rows from the rest of Lafleur), and they deliver a wine that's much more typical of Pomerol than Lafleur itself, a wine that transcends appellations.
Published: Apr 06, 2023
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
James Suckling
Château Lafleur Pomerol 2020
Sunday, May 14, 2023
CountryFrance
RegionBordeaux
Vintage2020
CHECK PRICE
DOWNLOAD SHELFTALKER
Score
98
There’s such beautiful clarity to this with freshly crushed grapes, flowers such as violets, and hints of chocolate. Aromatic. Full and linear with refined tannins that give length and focus. Poised. Such brightness. Needs five or six years to show it’s greatness.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Vinous
98+
Drinking Window
2030 - 2060
From: Bordeaux 2020: Saving the Best for Last (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Lafleur takes all the elements of this site and dials them up. All of the natural richness and textural intensity of the year comes through in a decidedly flamboyant, opulent Lafleur. It's an immediate Lafleur, that much is obvious. I imagine the classic Lafleur bouquet will develop in bottle, as aeration starts to release some of the classic Bouchet (Cabernet Franc) notes that are such signatures. Today, the sumptuousness of Merlot really drives the wines' balance, with the Bouchet felt mostly in the structural profile. I can't wait to see how this ages.
- By Antonio Galloni on December 2022
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
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Wijnhuis
Château Lafleur is a highly regarded wine producer based in Pomerol, Bordeaux. It is known for producing some of the most sought-after and prestigious wines in the world. The estate is known for its production of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with a history dating back to the 19th century.
History of Château Lafleur
The history of Château Lafleur dates back to the 18th century. The estate has its origins in the 1870s, when it was founded by the Greloud family. The estate was relatively small in size and the Grelouds began to build a reputation for producing high quality wine. In the early 1940s, Château Lafleur was purchased by Jacques Guinaudeau and has remained in the hands of the Guinaudeau family ever since. This marked a new era for the estate, as the Guinaudeau family continued to improve the quality and reputation of Château Lafleur's wines. In more recent times, Château Lafleur has gained even more recognition and fame for its wines. The family is committed to preserving the estate's traditional viticulture, while also applying modern techniques to ensure the quality of their wines. Originally it was part of the larger Fleur-Blanche estate. At the end of the 18th century, the estate was divided into what are now known as Château Lafleur and Château Petrus, two of the most renowned estates in Pomerol.
Production of Château Lafleur
Château Lafleur is located in the Pomerol appellation on the right bank of the Gironde River, known for producing some of the world's most elegant and refined wines. The Pomerol appellation is known for its Merlot-based wines, and Château Lafleur is no exception. The vineyards of Château Lafleur are relatively small, covering just over 4 hectares. They are planted with approximately 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc, which makes it unique in the sense that Cabernet Franc plays an equal role alongside Merlot in its blends. The winemaking process at Château Lafleur is meticulous and traditional. The grapes are harvested and sorted by hand to ensure that only the best fruit is used. Fermentation takes place in small oak barrels and the wines are aged in French oak barrels, with a high percentage of new oak, to improve their structure and complexity. Château Lafleur is known for its red wines for their complexity, elegance and aging potential. The estate produces two main wines called Château Lafleur and Les Pensées de Lafleur. The primary wine, Château Lafleur, is one of the most sought-after and rarest wines in the world. The second wine, Les Pensées de Lafleur, is made from younger vines and is more accessible at a younger age.
Château Lafleur is located in the Pomerol appellation on the right bank of the Gironde River, which is known for producing some of the world's most elegant and refined wines. The Pomerol appellation is known for its Merlot-based wines, and Château Lafleur is no exception. Château Lafleur's vineyards are relatively small, covering just over 4 hectares. They are planted with approximately 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc, making it unique in that Cabernet Franc plays an equal role alongside Merlot in its blends. The winemaking process at Château Lafleur is meticulous and traditional. The grapes are hand-harvested and sorted to ensure that only the finest fruit is used. Fermentation takes place in small oak barrels and the wines are aged in French oak barrels, with a high percentage of new oak, to enhance their structure and complexity. Château Lafleur is known for its red wines because of their complexity, elegance and aging potential. The estate produces two main wines called Château Lafleur and Les Pensées de Lafleur. The main wine, Château Lafleur, is one of the most sought after and rarest wines in the world. The second wine, Les Pensées de Lafleur, is made from younger vines and is more approachable at a younger age.
The 2020 Lafleur is matured in 30% new oak, the rest, for the first time, used in Grand Village for 8 months to reduce the oak influence. It was bottled in April 2022 after two months of settling in large stainless steel. It has a nose with stunning delineation and terroir expression. There is a strong minerality with aromas of flint and basalt. The palate is medium-bodied with fine but firm tannins, intense black fruit mixed with dark chocolate that ebbs with aeration and gets after some time to reveal more floral aromas. There is a sense of symmetry on the finish and an extraordinarily long aftertaste, while the freshness and vitality are maintained throughout. Simply wonderful.
FACT : The wine is in our conditioned Wine Warehouse and if you come to pick up the wine you will often also receive a nice discount. You will see the possible discount immediately if you choose Pick up on the Checkout page. We are located almost next to the Rijksweg with plenty of parking. Click here for address.
| Type of Wine | Red |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Appellation | Pomerol |
| Icons | Icon France |
| Winery | Chateau Lafleur |
| Grape | Cabernet Franc, Merlot |
| Biological certified | No |
| Natural wine | No |
| Vegan | No |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Drinking as of | 2028 |
| Drinking till | 2065 |
| Alcohol % | 14.5 |
| Alcohol free/low | No |
| Content | 0.75 ltr |
| Oak aging | Yes |
| Sparkling | No |
| Dessert wine | No |
| Closure | Cork |
| Parker rating | 99 |
| James Suckling rating | 98 |
| Vinous rating | 99 |
| Tasting Profiles | Aards, Complex, Droog, Houtgerijpt, Krachtig, Rood fruit, Soepel, Tannines |
| Drink moments | Indruk maken, Lekker luxe, Open haard |
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 99
Reviewed by:
William Kelley
Release Price:
NA
Drink Date:
2030 - 2065
One of the wines of the vintage, but likely to prove slower evolving and more introverted than its 2019 counterpart, the 2020 Lafleur unwinds in the glass with aromas of cherries, raspberries, kirsch, black truffle, orange zest and vine smoke. Full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, it's deep and concentrated, with a tightly wound core of fruit framed by rich, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, saline finish. This is another magical bottle from an estate that just seems to do everything right.
Where to begin when singing the praises of Château Lafleur and its stewards, the Guinaudeau family? At this address, rare seriousness and attention to detail, informed by a deep engagement with Bordeaux's past and present, meets a superb terroir, planted almost entirely with old massal selections of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, which has never seen pesticides or herbicides. The result, somewhat predictably, is one of Bordeaux's very greatest wines, but also, given its Cabernet preponderance and soils richer in gravel than in clay, a rather anomalous Pomerol.
But that's a teleological narrative: Lafleur is what it is today as much by accident as by design, for its former proprietors, the Robin sisters, simply didn't change anything between the death of their father in 1947 and 1985, when Jacques Guinaudeau took the reins. After the famous 1956 frosts, when much of Bordeaux was replanted (often at lower densities and with inferior vine genetics, emphasizing Merlot at the expense of less productive cépages), the Robins did nothing; they only adopted tractors when oxen became unobtainable. By 1985, some 30% of the vineyard's vines were dead, and those that remained were contorted by maladroit pruning. The upside to this more or less benevolent neglect was (besides wines of extraordinary concentration and intensity) an unspoiled genetic patrimony and living soils. What was missing was consistency.
Jacques Guinaudeau changed that. He replanted missing vines but found that they didn't taste like Lafleur, so he embarked upon a massal selection program to preserve Lafleur's unique vine genetics. And determined to no longer submit to the ups and downs of good and bad vintages, he introduced (in 1987) what was initially a second wine, Les Pensées de Lafleur, which became, by 1999, a wine in its own right. Ever since, Lafleur derives from the two gravel "banks" that are diagonally bisected by an old watercourse, which is the source of Les Pensées. The soils in this old watercourse are richer in clay and more humid (a permanent cover crop distinguishes these rows from the rest of Lafleur), and they deliver a wine that's much more typical of Pomerol than Lafleur itself, a wine that transcends appellations.
Published: Apr 06, 2023
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
James Suckling
Château Lafleur Pomerol 2020
Sunday, May 14, 2023
CountryFrance
RegionBordeaux
Vintage2020
CHECK PRICE
DOWNLOAD SHELFTALKER
Score
98
There’s such beautiful clarity to this with freshly crushed grapes, flowers such as violets, and hints of chocolate. Aromatic. Full and linear with refined tannins that give length and focus. Poised. Such brightness. Needs five or six years to show it’s greatness.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Vinous
98+
Drinking Window
2030 - 2060
From: Bordeaux 2020: Saving the Best for Last (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Lafleur takes all the elements of this site and dials them up. All of the natural richness and textural intensity of the year comes through in a decidedly flamboyant, opulent Lafleur. It's an immediate Lafleur, that much is obvious. I imagine the classic Lafleur bouquet will develop in bottle, as aeration starts to release some of the classic Bouchet (Cabernet Franc) notes that are such signatures. Today, the sumptuousness of Merlot really drives the wines' balance, with the Bouchet felt mostly in the structural profile. I can't wait to see how this ages.
- By Antonio Galloni on December 2022
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Exclusive Content
Sign in to unlock professional wine reviews from world-renowned critics
Château Lafleur is a highly regarded wine producer based in Pomerol, Bordeaux. It is known for producing some of the most sought-after and prestigious wines in the world. The estate is known for its production of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with a history dating back to the 19th century.
History of Château Lafleur
The history of Château Lafleur dates back to the 18th century. The estate has its origins in the 1870s, when it was founded by the Greloud family. The estate was relatively small in size and the Grelouds began to build a reputation for producing high quality wine. In the early 1940s, Château Lafleur was purchased by Jacques Guinaudeau and has remained in the hands of the Guinaudeau family ever since. This marked a new era for the estate, as the Guinaudeau family continued to improve the quality and reputation of Château Lafleur's wines. In more recent times, Château Lafleur has gained even more recognition and fame for its wines. The family is committed to preserving the estate's traditional viticulture, while also applying modern techniques to ensure the quality of their wines. Originally it was part of the larger Fleur-Blanche estate. At the end of the 18th century, the estate was divided into what are now known as Château Lafleur and Château Petrus, two of the most renowned estates in Pomerol.
Production of Château Lafleur
Château Lafleur is located in the Pomerol appellation on the right bank of the Gironde River, known for producing some of the world's most elegant and refined wines. The Pomerol appellation is known for its Merlot-based wines, and Château Lafleur is no exception. The vineyards of Château Lafleur are relatively small, covering just over 4 hectares. They are planted with approximately 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc, which makes it unique in the sense that Cabernet Franc plays an equal role alongside Merlot in its blends. The winemaking process at Château Lafleur is meticulous and traditional. The grapes are harvested and sorted by hand to ensure that only the best fruit is used. Fermentation takes place in small oak barrels and the wines are aged in French oak barrels, with a high percentage of new oak, to improve their structure and complexity. Château Lafleur is known for its red wines for their complexity, elegance and aging potential. The estate produces two main wines called Château Lafleur and Les Pensées de Lafleur. The primary wine, Château Lafleur, is one of the most sought-after and rarest wines in the world. The second wine, Les Pensées de Lafleur, is made from younger vines and is more accessible at a younger age.