Pensées de Lafleur is eigenlijk een strook temidden de vignoble jardin van het mythische Lafleur. 52% Merlot geplukt op 16 september en 48% Cabernet Franc geplukt op 29 september. Charme in de hoogste graad en een bijzonder zeldzaam hebbeding… zeker in dit groot jaar voor Lafleur.
IN DE PERS
92 Neal Martin – vinous.com (Februari 2020)
The 2017 Pensées de Lafleur has a very harmonious bouquet with black cherries, iodine and light violet aromas that blossoms in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and quite structured for this particular cuvée. A beguiling, black pepper and pencil lead tinged finish lingers in the mouth. Excellent. Drink 2023-2050.
91-93 Neal Martin – vinous.com (Mei 2018)
For the firs time, with respect to the 2017 Les Pensées de Lafleur, 100% of the Cabernet Franc comes from the massaleselection. It has a very well defined bouquet with red berry fruit, pressed rose petal and crushed stone aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, quite a firm backbone with a subtle marine/iodine influence. It is very harmonious in style, becoming more linear and strict towards the saline finish. It is a little standoffish, so don’t be afraid to give this four or five years in the cellar. Drink 2022-2038.
94 Antonio Galloni – vinous.com (Maart 2020)
The 2017 Pensées de Lafleur is simply stunning. Tasting it today, I can only conclude that Pensées is obviously more complete and enthralling than many Grand Vins in this vintage. Explosive, deep and beautifully resonant, the Pensées shows tremendous depth and energy, not to mention so much character. What else can I say, except that I absolutely loved it. Drink 2022-2037.
89-92 Antonio Galloni – vinous.com (Mei 2018)
The 2017 Pensées de Lafleur is a very serious wine. Deceptively medium in body, the 2017 packs quite a punch, with tons of depth to the dark cherry, plum, rose petal and lavender flavors. There is so much character and personality here.
92 Jane Anson – decanter.com (April 2018)
The 1,500 candles in the vineyards (as with Petrus and VCC) were effective against the frost here, and as with much of the region the water stress was causing concern until rain at the end of June, which got everything growing again. The dry July and August saw no extreme temperatures, certainly more moderate than 2015, and the picking took place over two periods, with the Merlot on 16 September and the Cabernet Franc on 29 September. Those bouncy tannins are really defined, and this is a fairly serious take on Les Pensées de Lafleur, with accentuated power and tension that comes from its 0.69ha of clay soils (compared to the gravels elsewhere in the 4.58ha vineyard). Good persistency, and lovely floral edging.
93 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW – robertparker.com (Maart 2020)
The 2017 Pensées de Lafleur is a blend of 52% Merlot and 48% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it springs from the glass with vivacious scents of exotic spices—cassia, fenugreek, cumin seed and star anise—over a core of black raspberries, wild blueberries and Black Forest cake plus a waft of roses. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is filled with juicy black fruits and loads of spicy sparks, framed by firm, finely grained tannins and a lively backbone, finishing on a lingering iron ore note. Drink 2022-2042.
90-92 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW – robertparker.com (April 2018)
Pensées de Lafleur is not a second wine, as it comes from a single, rather oddly shaped, 0.69-hectare block of clay in the middle of the Lafleur vineyard. Composed of 52% Merlot and 48% Cabernet Franc, the 2017 Pensées de Lafleur is medium to deep garnet-purple in color and comes bounding out of the glass with gorgeous crushed black and red cherries notes, yeast extract, lilacs and rose hips with touches of cinnamon stick and tilled soil. The palate is medium-bodied, elegant, very fine and very fresh with a long, mineral-laced finish.
94-95 James Suckling – jamessuckling.com (Maart 2018)
An impressively tight and solid wine from Lafleur with dark-berry, chocolate and spice character as well as some white-pepper and salty undertones. Full-bodied, very tight and focused. A really pretty young 2017.
17/20 Julia Harding MW – jancisrobinson.com (April 2018)
Deep crimson. Some violet on the nose and deep and long on the palate. Less charm and more depth than in previous vintages. But opens up to red fruit. Chewy chocolate texture and a delicious hint of spice – nutmeg? – on the mid palate. Caressing depth of tannin texture. Long as well as deep.
92-94 Jeb Dunnuck – jebdunnuck.com (April 2018)
Coming from a unique vein of clay soils that runs at a diagonal through the Lafleur vineyard, the 2017 Pensées de Lafleur is a rough blend of equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Franc (it was more Merlot-dominated in the past), and since 1999 has always come from the same vines in the vintage. It’s a gorgeous wine in its own right, offering a deep ruby/purple color, loads of violets, black raspberries and floral nuances, medium to full-bodied richness, and ultra-fine tannin. It shows the hallmark elegance and texture of the estate and will be drinkable in 3-4 years and keep for 10-15 years.
92 Jean-Marc Quarin – quarin.fr (April 2018)
16,5-17,5/20 Revue des Vins de France – rvf.com (April 2018)
91-93 Greg Sherwood – gregsherwoodmw.com (April 2018) - Smallest parcel in Lafleur at 0.69 hectares. Not made as a second wine to Lafleur, more as a defined expression from the same clay dominated parcel. Using 52% Merlot and 48% Cabernet Franc, the aromatics are more vibrant, crunchy and fresh revealing hints of cassis reduction, graphite and a saline, kirsch note. The palate boasts sweet violet tinged black berry, cherry confit with fine core depth and a plush, long length. An accessible, classy expression.
GuinaudeauJacques en Sylvie Guinaudeau en nu hun zoon en schoondochter, Baptiste en Julie, staan aan het roer van Lafleur. In Pomerol staat deze legendarische wijngaard bekend als «le vignoble-jardin ». Lafleur is eigendom van hun familie sinds 1872, één jaar na de stichting van Vyncke-Daels…
Lafleur is een mythe en één van de allergrootste wijnen van Bordeaux. Hij is diep, intens, karaktervol en cerebraal. Omwille van zijn zeer beperkte productie (om en bij de duizend kistjes) is het cult- en knuffelgehalte bij verzamelaars wereldwijd bijzonder hoog. Naast Petrus heeft Lafleur waarschijnlijk het mooiste terroir van Pomerol, ook al rekent Lafleur voor 65% op Cabernet Franc om de droom werkelijkheid te maken; bij Petrus draait het om 100% Merlot. Samen brengen ze de allerbeste Pomerols en dat met de regelmaat van een klok.
Julie en Baptiste wonen op Lafleur, en Sylvie en Jacques op Grand Village in Mouillac nabij Fronsac (ze maken er een knappe rode en een vibrante witte Bordeaux). Op de weg tussen Grand Village en Lafleur startten ze in 2009 een nieuw avontuur met "G de Guinaudeau" die ze graag bestempelen als "een grote wijn in wording". Onlangs werkten ze zelfs met Sauvignon Blanc druivenstokken uit Sancerrre om een piepkleine productie witte wijn te maken die de naam kreeg « Les Champs Libres ».
Het mag tegenstrijdig lijken maar de familie Guinaudeau zijn perfectionisten met een laissez-faire attitude. Hun inborst en werkwijze toont hoe je het hoogste niveau kan bereiken van op drie verschillende terroirs.
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