Château Lafleur Winery

Just 4.58 hectares on the best Pomerol terroir with very old vines make "Lafleur" one of the rarest, most sought-after and most expensive wines in the appellation.

The small vineyard that surrounds the comparatively modest estate is one of the few vineyards in Bordeaux that has not changed since 1872. Back then, Jacques Guinaudeau's great-great-grandfather founded the estate. The quality of the vineyards had been recognised since the 15th century. in 1915 André Robin took over the management and in 1946 the two sisters Marie and Thérèse Robin. "That was our stroke of luck," explains Guinaudeau to Bordeaux connoisseur and author Jane Anston, "because the two sisters were extremely conservative in the Calvinist sense and didn't see any point in spending money on planting new Merlot clones or on chemical pesticides and artificial fertilisers. They simply did nothing at all to their old vines." As a result, Baptiste and Julie Guinaudeau, who have now taken over the management from their father Jacques, have a stock of very old vines and healthy soils. Some of the vines are more than 100 years old and serve as the basis for their own mass selections.

The extremely rare wine comes from three areas within the vineyard with clayey gravel, gravelly sand and sandy-loamy gravel. The second wine "Les Pensées de Lafleur" is produced on a narrow strip that runs through the different terroirs. Merlot and Cabernet Franc each make up around 50 %, which is unusual in Pomerol. The first and second wines are aged in the new cellar in exactly the same way. Just as unusual as the high proportion of Cabernet Franc is the choice of barriques: just 20 % are replaced each year. Many of its neighbours like to use 100 % new wood. Only nuances are worked on in the cellar. But these are what make this wine great, which is clearly more reminiscent of wines from the left bank among Pomerol wines. While its neighbour Pétrus cultivates hedonism and powerful generosity, a "Lafleur" is cooler, more mineral and possesses more noblesse.

photos: Château Lafleur