2025 Chateau Lafleur Vin de France

Regular price $975.00

Quantity

97-99 Vinous - The 2025 Lafleur was picked early, from August 26 to 28 and from September 10 to 12 for the Cabernet Franc. Of course, this is the first year when the wine is classified as Vin de France after water was added to the soil, contravening Pomerol's AC rules. Discussing at length with Baptiste Guinaudeau, whilst I can see that it would essentially resuscitate the parched vine, the amounts are too little to affect the wine when considering the actual rainfall figures. For sure, it has a bashful bouquet at first and demands time to really open in the glass, 10 to 15 minutes. Only then does it reveal enticing scents of blackcurrant, bilberry, crushed stone and iris flower, all beautifully defined and very succinct—quintessential Lafleur. The palate is medium-bodied and framed by chiselled tannins that lend this Pomerol beguiling symmetry. What really marks this Lafleur is its tremendous persistence on the finish. It just goes on and on. This is a great Lafleur, irrespective of what it took to get there.

2025 Château Lafleur (released as Vin de France following the estate's departure from the Pomerol AOC, though the vineyard remains the historic Lafleur site in Pomerol) is one of the most profound wines of the vintage—a bottle that combines extraordinary concentration with remarkable finesse and precision.

Deep garnet-purple in the glass, the wine opens with a hauntingly complex bouquet of black raspberry, wild blackberry, Bing cherry, violet, iris, graphite, crushed stone, truffle, cocoa, licorice, cigar box, and fresh herbs, accented by subtle notes of saffron, mandarin zest, and warm spice. Aromatically, it is both powerful and remarkably restrained, revealing new layers with every swirl.

The palate is breathtakingly detailed. A near-equal blend of 49% Merlot and 51% Bouchet (the estate's old Cabernet Franc selection) delivers remarkable energy and structure. The texture is seamless and satin-like, with densely packed black fruit woven together by vibrant acidity, mineral tension, and exquisitely polished tannins. Despite its immense concentration, the wine never feels heavy; instead, it glides across the palate with effortless grace before unfolding into an exceptionally long finish marked by graphite, dark chocolate, saline minerality, and lingering floral notes.

Lafleur has always occupied a singular place in Bordeaux, prized less for opulence than for its ability to marry the sensual richness of Merlot with the aromatic lift, structure, and longevity of Cabernet Franc. The 2025 captures that identity beautifully, offering both immediate allure and the architecture to evolve for decades.

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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.
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