2023 Chateau Lafleur Pomerol

Regular price $875.00

Quantity

98-100 Wine Advocate - The 2023 Lafleur is one of a small number of contenders for the title of wine of the vintage, and it's one 2023 that appears to surpass its 2022 counterpart. Wafting from the glass with aromas of blackberries, cherries and plums mingled with hints of licorice, violets and mint, it's full-bodied, deep and layered, with a concentrated core of lively, succulent, pure fruit framed by beautifully refined tannins, concluding with a long, fragrant finish. Its exquisite structure, intensity without weight and ineffable harmony mark it out as a great Lafleur, and one that will be worth a special effort to seek out.

96 Vinous - Tobacco and touches of shucked oyster shell surface with air. This is a more tertiary bouquet, completely different in style to the neighboring Petrus. The palate is very linear and strict, like the nose, fresh with a tincture of dark chocolate and wrapped up with black fruit, black pepper and a touch of tea leaves toward the finish. The Bouchets is very expressive on the close, and it lingers beautifully. This is not a flamboyant Lafleur, it is very reflective of the growing season, perhaps a more cerebral wine that will be fascinating to observe as it ages. This is one of the few profound wines this vintage, yet it's still a challenge. This is a wine for those who like cryptic crosswords and Pomerol.

2023 Château Lafleur Pomerol is a profound expression of one of Bordeaux's most revered estates, capturing the extraordinary finesse that defines the vintage. Rather than sheer power, the 2023 emphasizes precision, aromatic lift, and impeccable balance, showcasing Lafleur's unique ability to marry intensity with effortless elegance. The blend is 54% Bouchet (Cabernet Franc) and 46% Merlot, with the Cabernet Franc lending remarkable fragrance, energy, and longevity.

The nose is mesmerizingly layered, revealing black raspberry, blackberry, wild plum, Bing cherry, violets, iris, rose petals, graphite, tobacco leaf, licorice, truffle, mint, cocoa, and crushed stone. With air, subtle nuances of cedar, black pepper, tea leaves, and forest floor emerge, creating an aromatic profile that is both ethereal and deeply complex.

On the palate, Lafleur is all about purity and harmony. Silken tannins frame a core of vibrant black and red fruits, while remarkable freshness and mineral tension give the wine extraordinary definition. Despite its concentration, it never feels heavy; instead, it glides across the palate with satin-like texture before unfolding into an exceptionally long finish filled with graphite, dark chocolate, floral perfume, and savory spice. Critics consistently remark on its "intensity without weight," a hallmark of the estate at its finest.

Unlike the broader, more opulent 2022 vintage, the 2023 is more intellectual and finely etched—a wine built on symmetry, energy, and precision rather than sheer richness. It possesses the architecture to evolve gracefully for decades, with an ideal drinking window beginning around 2030 and extending well into the 2060s

Shipping Policy

Open tab

Unless your delivery address is on the West Coast, we strongly discourage you from selecting “Ground Service” as your shipping method. During the winter and summer months, weather conditions (temperature) and longer delivery times can often result in the spoilage of your order. It doesn’t make sense to invest in fine wines and then take the chance of ruining them due environmental factors during transit (faster and safer delivery generally isn’t much more expensive). We don’t make an additional profit on accelerated delivery, but we frequently recommend faster shipping options to our customers outside the West Coast.
You must be 21 years of age to order or receive alcoholic beverages. Any shipments containing alcoholic beverages are sent with an “Adult Signature Required” sticker, and the common carrier that delivers our merchandise is required to ask and check for identification upon delivery. This means that an adult will have to be present at the time of delivery. Please consider shipping to an office address.
During periods of extreme weather, we attempt to ship wines at the beginning of each week in order to get shipments to you before the weekend. This is because we have no control over the temperature conditions at our freight carriers’ warehouses. The result may be that your shipment doesn’t go out the day that you place an order.
We ship by Fedex or Fedex Ground. Our prices include packaging materials. Insurance may be available for an additional charge.
Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. will arrange for shipment on behalf of the buyer, to an address specified by the buyer, provided that Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. in its sole judgment believes that such shipment will not subject Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. to the risk of any sort of legal action or other harm. If a buyer lives in a state where the direct shipment of wine by Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. violates the law, we suggest that the buyer provide an alternative address in another state or have their wine shipped to a third-party storage facility in a direct shipping-friendly state.
Various states impose limitations on the quantity of alcoholic beverages that may be purchased and brought into their jurisdiction by a purchaser from another state without requiring the purchaser, a seller or shipper to possess certain licenses or permits. Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. does not, as a condition of sale, assume any obligation nor bear any responsibility whatsoever for applying or obtaining any permits or licenses. Therefore, we recommend that you investigate the possibility of such limitations, and determine the manner in which alcoholic beverages shall be brought into your state from California, so as to comply with all of your state’s requirements.
Wine shipping rules in the United States are controlled by the state you live in. We do not ship wine to the following states at this time: