Chateau Lafleur

Château Lafleur is a tiny (4.5ha, 11 acres) family-run property in the Pomerol appellation on Bordeaux's Right Bank. Its Grand Vin of the same name is known for its concentration, creamy texture, intense black fruits and spicy character. Robert Parker has called it "one of the most distinctive, most exotic, and greatest wines – not only in Pomerol, but in the world". The wine is also powerfully structured and needs more cellaring than most wines in the appellation; in the best vintages it can last half a century. Thanks in part to regular praise from Parker, who first visited in 1975, it is one of the most sought after and highest priced wines in the world.

The vineyard sits on deep layers of gravel on the edge of the Pomerol plateau, next to La Fleur-Pétrus. The vineyard is planted 50/50 between Merlot and Cabernet Franc; an unusually high proportion of the latter which contributes greatly to the wine's capacity (and need) for ageing. Yields are very low even by the standards of Pomerol, and only around 1000 cases are made each year, and typically up to 400 of these may be released as Pensées de Lafleur. This was created for the poor 1987 vintage when no Grand Vin was released, though now focuses on specific plots and is not regarded by the producers as a second wine.

In the tiny farmhouse cellar grapes for Lafleur are fermented in small cement vats and undergo malolactic fermentation in barrel. The wine is then aged for around 15 months in French oak barrels, of which around 50% is usually new oak. Pensées de Lafleur is vinified in temperature controlled stainless steel and sees less new oak when maturing.

Lafleur was founded in 1872 when Henri Greloud, the owner of Château Le Gay, bought the plot. It still remains in the family and is now run his great, great grandchildren Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau.