12 bottles per lot
Details
Château Lafleur
My difficulty with assessing Lafleur in its first few years mirror those that I have at Cheval Blanc. In both cases, the core of the wine seems so elusive and I need to take much more time seeking out all its subtleties of underlying flavour and nuances of structure. If I don't do that, I miss it completely. Both are unusually constructed around the Cabernet Franc, a grape much less forthcoming than the always rather ebullient Merlot and maybe that has something to do with it.
In the case of Lafleur it is also perhaps because I have only got to know the estate quite recently since, while I was a négociant, it was not on my circuit.
Now, I have got to know the Guinaudeau family and to appreciate their vast understanding of this tiny (4.5 ha) property. Jacques, the father and grandson of the original owner in the late 1800s, a remarkably thoughtful and intellectual man with a wonderful bushy moustache, his wife Sylvie and their son Baptiste, poney tail, jeans and leather waistcoat, and his partner Julie all work together to form a totally comptetent, no-nonsense and very serious team. They are 100% devoted to all the intricate details of this remarkable vineyard in the most natural, agricultural way as though they were running a model farm.
The three distinct soil types demand a lot of attention and they have gone to extraordinary lengths to adapt to each : to the south, where it borders on Pétrus and VCC, the brown sandy gravel over clay-gravel is planted to Cabernet Franc (which Baptiste insists on calling 'Bouchet', the local name : he has even developed some original Bouchet strains for re-planting) ; to the west, the pure gravel over clay produces more powerful wines, essentially Merlot ; to the east, by La Fleur Pétrus, there are more sandy elements with a crescent of deeper soil running through it. Putting the produce of all these soil types together is almost as complicated as tasting the young wines...and I suppose one explains the other.
However, when it comes to tasting Lafleur with some age on it, the picture becomes altogether clearer. Jacques says the average optimum drinking window is about 20 years – much more for the great years. I have to confesss that I have never drunk the legendary '47 or the revered '82 but I have tasted these four vintages in the catalogue today which all seem to be just coming into their prime : the '99 surprisingly massively built for a Lafleur but gaining finesse ; the '03 quite advanced and the readiest to drink, as one would expect from such a 'southern' climate ; the '04 which was always straight-styled and rectiline in its perfect symmetry ; the '05 always monumental from the start and now just beginning to get into its stride. These are four wines of completely varying styles but all have that common theme of dsicretion and finesse.
Château Lafleur 1999
Pomerol
In original wooden case
12 bottles per lot
My difficulty with assessing Lafleur in its first few years mirror those that I have at Cheval Blanc. In both cases, the core of the wine seems so elusive and I need to take much more time seeking out all its subtleties of underlying flavour and nuances of structure. If I don't do that, I miss it completely. Both are unusually constructed around the Cabernet Franc, a grape much less forthcoming than the always rather ebullient Merlot and maybe that has something to do with it.
In the case of Lafleur it is also perhaps because I have only got to know the estate quite recently since, while I was a négociant, it was not on my circuit.
Now, I have got to know the Guinaudeau family and to appreciate their vast understanding of this tiny (4.5 ha) property. Jacques, the father and grandson of the original owner in the late 1800s, a remarkably thoughtful and intellectual man with a wonderful bushy moustache, his wife Sylvie and their son Baptiste, poney tail, jeans and leather waistcoat, and his partner Julie all work together to form a totally comptetent, no-nonsense and very serious team. They are 100% devoted to all the intricate details of this remarkable vineyard in the most natural, agricultural way as though they were running a model farm.
The three distinct soil types demand a lot of attention and they have gone to extraordinary lengths to adapt to each : to the south, where it borders on Pétrus and VCC, the brown sandy gravel over clay-gravel is planted to Cabernet Franc (which Baptiste insists on calling 'Bouchet', the local name : he has even developed some original Bouchet strains for re-planting) ; to the west, the pure gravel over clay produces more powerful wines, essentially Merlot ; to the east, by La Fleur Pétrus, there are more sandy elements with a crescent of deeper soil running through it. Putting the produce of all these soil types together is almost as complicated as tasting the young wines...and I suppose one explains the other.
However, when it comes to tasting Lafleur with some age on it, the picture becomes altogether clearer. Jacques says the average optimum drinking window is about 20 years – much more for the great years. I have to confesss that I have never drunk the legendary '47 or the revered '82 but I have tasted these four vintages in the catalogue today which all seem to be just coming into their prime : the '99 surprisingly massively built for a Lafleur but gaining finesse ; the '03 quite advanced and the readiest to drink, as one would expect from such a 'southern' climate ; the '04 which was always straight-styled and rectiline in its perfect symmetry ; the '05 always monumental from the start and now just beginning to get into its stride. These are four wines of completely varying styles but all have that common theme of dsicretion and finesse.
Château Lafleur 1999
Pomerol
In original wooden case
12 bottles per lot
Special notice
On lots marked with an + in the catalogue, VAT will be charged at 7.7% on both the premium as well as the hammer price.
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