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  • Country ranking ?

    317
  • Producer ranking ?

    18
  • Decanting time

    4h
  • When to drink

    from 2025
  • Food Pairing

    Beef

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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Lafleur 2017 has been released and is being offered by merchants at £5,340 per 12×75, up 3.5% on the opening price of the 2016 vintage (£5,160).

Neal Martin was impressed by this year’s offering and awarded the wine 95-97 points. He noted that “this is an awesome 2017 from Baptiste Guinaudeau, one of the few that will oblige several years in the cellar”. Galloni, who scored the wine 95-98 points went further, adding that “the 2017 Lafleur is without question one of the wines of the vintage on the Right Bank”.  Even higher praise came from Lisa Perotti-Brown who gave a score of 97-100 points.

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The Story

Between the estates of Pétrus and La Fleur-Pétrus, amid vineyards, stands a stone house with closed shutters. The road that winds to the house between the vine rows has no signs or indications as to the name of the place. The construction looks more like a maintenance shed for the neighbouring estates than the main building of a winery. However, this is a house that makes one of the most desirable wines in Bordeaux: Château Lafleur.

Lafleur’s wines form an interesting contrast to their neighbour, Pétrus. Their terroirs differ significantly, even though the distance between them is only 50–100 metres. Whereas Pétrus is more seductively rich, full-bodied and intense, Lafleur is charming in its elegance, femininity and subtlety.
Lafleur’s wines are delightful, but they do require aging for at least twenty years in order to display their full, nuanced character. Guinaudeau’s investments into improving quality in all of Lafleur’s functions promise an even better future for the friends of Lafleur. Although tasting the 1947, 1950, 1961, 1975 or 1982, one can only wonder whether Lafleur’s wines could get any better?

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Vintage 2017

Bordeaux 2017 - A year of contrast

Life is not fair and neither is nature. As the earth warms, flowering becomes earlier and the risk of frost damage increases. Few winemakers remember the frosts of 1991, but their legacy is still haunting. When meteorologists predicted a cold blast on the nights of April 27 and 28, there was a real sense of panic. Most with the means deployed, candles, wind turbines, helicopters, lit hay, took all the measures they could - the others left it to chance.

The best protection was provided by nature; proximity to the Gironde and the altitude. These are not at all the best terroirs. Large Médoc estates such as Léoville Las Cases, Pichon Comtesse and Montrose reported virtually no frost damage. Likewise in Pomerol, Château Lafleur, Petrus, Vieux Château Certan and all the other big names on the Pomerol plateau were unscathed. There were some notable casualties such as Cheval Blanc and Figeac, but the damage was far from catastrophic and the resulting wines are both spectacular.

Those located on low altitude vineyards in St Emilion or further away from the Gironde estuary in the Médoc had no natural protection. Here the mercury fell below the critical level and the damage from the frost was devastating. In places, the entire harvest was lost. Winegrowers had to wait patiently and hope for a second generation bud. In most cases, the second generation was futile.

Those partially affected by the frost mainly lost their less favorable terroirs and their plots planted with young vines, normally designated as secondary and generic wines. A natural selection if you will... Statistically, 2017 is not a good reading for Bordeaux as a whole; Appellations that produce wine in bulk have been hit hard. Total production amounted to 3.5 million hectoliters, around 40% less than in 2016. However, yields from higher châteaux are relatively normal and if they are declining, this is usually attributed to small berries caused by drought conditions in July and August.

 

2017 is best summarized as an early vintage with significant water stress. Bud break, flowering, veraison and harvest were all two weeks ahead of the norm. Fortunately, there was enough rain in June to carry the vines through the drought of July and August. Average temperatures in July and August were not remarkable, although some châteaux pointed out that alternating temperatures from hot to cold days favored ripening. September brought much needed rain and cooler conditions. The nights were particularly cool, which helped prevent botrytis and maintain low pH levels. The latter part of the month saw a return to dry conditions which allowed the Cabernets to reach full maturity.

And what about wines? Statistics can provide rationalizations, but they can't tell you what wines taste like. As Baptiste Guinaudeau says, the 2017s clearly fit into the trilogy of vintages affected by water constraints, 2015, 2016 and 2017. There is a wonderful and refreshing acidity and vitality to the fruit. Very moderate alcohol level, a bit like in 2016. The wines are vibrant and aromatic. Due to the small berries there is good color and the quality of the press wines is very interesting. As 2017 did not have the heat of 2015 and 2016, they are generally not as broad as their predecessors, however, the key was to extract gently then use the high quality press wines to fill out the middle of mouth. There are dozens of successes. The winegrowers who were friendly and let their terroirs speak have triumphed. Olivier Berrouet's Petrus is absolutely exceptional, Château Lafleur and Percesses de Lafleur speak of purity and breed, Canon, Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Figeac and Tertre Roteboeuf have all produced worthy successors to their 2015 and 2016. On the left bank , Château Margaux may be in a class of its own, but Mouton Rothschild, Haut Brion, La Mission Haut Brion, Montrose, Pichon Comtesse and Léoville Las Cases all came from the top drawer, and there are many more worthy ones of mention: Grand Puy Lacoste, Smith Haut Lafitte, Haut Bailly, Léoville Barton, Lynch Bages, Ducru Beaucaillou, Calon Segur, Palmer, Pichon Longueville, Brane Cantenac and Rauzan Segla.

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

Tasted in November 2021. 53% C.Franc and 47% Merlot. Creamy, deep, great tension, vibrant, incredible structure, complexity and midpalate. Wonderful all over. Awesome stuff!

  • 98p

7% Merlot, 53% Cabernet Franc (Bouschet, a right-bank selection).
Very dark. Darkly fragrant. Incredibly pure cassis nose and just a touch of graphite/mineral dustiness. Super-elegant fine tannins, more dark charm than Les Pensées. Paper-fine texture slides across the palate in delicate persistence. Layers of paper giving embryonic complexity. Gorgeous. Utterly refined. Incredibly long.

  • 95p

Ruby. Scented, blueberries, violets, nuanced, detailed, denser, tight but layered nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, structured, lots of fine tannins, intense, detailed and layered, nuanced, denser, ripe, long. Very long. 96-98

  • 97p

Lafleur’s 2017 Merlot came in just before the rain. Cellar Master Omri Ram commented, “The 2017 Merlot was very similar to the 2015. With the Cabernet Franc, we waited; we were patient, and it came in ripe yet more fresh than the Merlot.” As it turns out, that combo of the wonderfully decadent Merlot and the galvanizing Cabernet Franc are just magic! Blended of 47% Merlot and 53% Cabernet Franc, the 2017 Lafleur has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and opens with a positively electric intensity of red and black fruits—cherries, black plums, red currants, black raspberries and mulberries—with touches of roses, cinnamon stick, smoked meats and forest floor plus a hint of truffles. Medium to full-bodied with densely packed layers of red and black fruits accented by floral and earthy sparks, it possesses very firm, very finely pixelated tannins and a lively backbone, finishing with epic persistence. 97-100p

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Origin

Pomerol, Bordeaux
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