1 impériale per lot
Details
LAFLEUR 1999
Vintage note: Less and less can one generalise about a vintage save to say that the care, skill (and occasionally, a bit of luck) of the maître de chai, winemaker, or proprietor - aided and abetted by consultants-enologists - can make the difference between a poor wine and a good wine. Over the past few years far more attention has been given to vine management for, as they say, good wine can only be made from good grapes.
The wet winter of 1998 topped up the water table. January and February were cool and abnormally dry but bud burst took place in equally abnormal heat. April and May were also very hot, but humidity necessitated early spraying. Exceptional heat in the latter part of May encouraged early flowering. Early June was stormy and caused some coulure, but the rest of the month was again very hot right through to the end of July. August variable, delaying véraison (colour change) but the three weeks which led up to 5 September were ideal, dry and warm. This was rudely interrupted by a severe thunderstorm and a swathe of devastating hail from Libourne to St-Emilion. Who would be a vigneron! And which of them made good wine? Those who sprayed in time, green pruned, sorted the grapes and selected the best vats. On the whole, some very agreeable wines though the market held back a little, to see how the 2000 would turn out. M.B.
Tasting note: This wine is a brilliant success, it is one of the stars of the vintage. Lafleur's 1999 is atypically powerful and concentrated, with an inky, saturated purple colour followed by a sensational nose of black cherry jam intermixed with liquid minerals, raspberries, and liquorice. It is super concentrated, extraordinarily pure, with moderately high tannin. This dense, powerful, impressively endowed wine should turn out to be a classic for Lafleur. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2025. Robert Parker, Wine Advocate 140 (Apr 2002)
Château Lafleur--Vintage 1999
Pomerol
1 impériale per lot
Vintage note: Less and less can one generalise about a vintage save to say that the care, skill (and occasionally, a bit of luck) of the maître de chai, winemaker, or proprietor - aided and abetted by consultants-enologists - can make the difference between a poor wine and a good wine. Over the past few years far more attention has been given to vine management for, as they say, good wine can only be made from good grapes.
The wet winter of 1998 topped up the water table. January and February were cool and abnormally dry but bud burst took place in equally abnormal heat. April and May were also very hot, but humidity necessitated early spraying. Exceptional heat in the latter part of May encouraged early flowering. Early June was stormy and caused some coulure, but the rest of the month was again very hot right through to the end of July. August variable, delaying véraison (colour change) but the three weeks which led up to 5 September were ideal, dry and warm. This was rudely interrupted by a severe thunderstorm and a swathe of devastating hail from Libourne to St-Emilion. Who would be a vigneron! And which of them made good wine? Those who sprayed in time, green pruned, sorted the grapes and selected the best vats. On the whole, some very agreeable wines though the market held back a little, to see how the 2000 would turn out. M.B.
Tasting note: This wine is a brilliant success, it is one of the stars of the vintage. Lafleur's 1999 is atypically powerful and concentrated, with an inky, saturated purple colour followed by a sensational nose of black cherry jam intermixed with liquid minerals, raspberries, and liquorice. It is super concentrated, extraordinarily pure, with moderately high tannin. This dense, powerful, impressively endowed wine should turn out to be a classic for Lafleur. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2025. Robert Parker, Wine Advocate 140 (Apr 2002)
Château Lafleur--Vintage 1999
Pomerol
1 impériale per lot
Special notice
Offered duty paid, but available in bond. VAT at 17.5% will be charged on the hammer price on removal of the lot from bond.