Lafleur 2018

So subtle and complex with blackberry, blueberry, fresh bark, fresh black truffles and light wet earth, as well as forest floor. Full-bodied, yet linear and so long with an amazingly polished and refined tannin structure and finesse that draws you deep and down in the palate. It opens incredibly in the glass. What a wine. Goes on for minutes. A real beauty. Something so true and ethereal here. Try after 2026.

The Grand Vin 2018 Château Lafleur from this magical terroir checks in as 54% Cabernet Franc and 46% Merlot that comes only from the more gravelly soils of the vineyard and spent 15 months in 25% new French oak. It's as good as any wine can get and has a layered, multi-dimensional style that marries power with elegance as only this estate can do. Offering notes of black raspberries, tobacco, truffly earth, spring flowers, and chocolate, it's full-bodied and concentrated on the palate, but nevertheless is as weightless as they come, offering this "je ne sais quoi" character that's hard to describe. It's more backward and reserved than the Pensées and is going to take a decade of bottle age to hit maturity, but it's a desert Island wine if there ever was one.

The 2018 Lafleur is a blend of 54% Cabernet Franc and 46% Merlot. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the nose absolutely shuts down upon first pour. After a lot of air, it slowly unfurls to reveal alluring scents of fresh black cherries, ripe blackberries and redcurrant jelly, leading to suggestions of sandalwood, pencil shavings, lilacs and forest floor, with emerging, heady wafts of camphor, iron ore and Indian spices. The rich, full-bodied palate is equally slow to read, offering whispers and murmurs of earth and exotic spice-laced black fruits with glimpses at a fleeting floral undercurrent, framed by firm, finely grained tannins and beautifully knit freshness, finishing with an edifying perfume. This is liquid poetry, but I would touch it for 7-8 years, at least. Should you be around in 40 years' time, expect it to blow your mind. Drink 2028-2070.

Tasted blind at Southwold 2018. Bright ruby-purple colour. Closed on the nose initially, with air there are high tones of dried flowers, graphite and fresh plums. The palate reveals great potential. The tannins are etched into the fruit - ripe, fine and chalky. The core is laden with Cabernet Franc's personality - fresh in fruit, highly floral and always savoury. Plumper cherry fruit builds on the back end. This is a wine high in energy and focus, piercing through to the finish, which is long and fragrant. Full of personality, followers of Lafleur should love this vintage. Winner of the Pomerol flight in 2018 Southwold.

Another exceptional vintage at Lafleur, with great concentration and intensity, holding back just enough to keep you guessing. The wine is concentrated but creamy and definitely reminiscent of 2016 but with a touch more velvet to the tannins and unlikely to close down as tightly or for as long.

Deep dark chocolate and liquorice notes gently layer up next to succulent black fruits and softer floral notes with the more architectural texture of slate doing its bit to add poise and precision.

Normal yields were recorded as there was no mildew but being Lafleur they don't talk in hl/ha but express that as around 3/4 of a bottle per vine!!

Drinking Window 2026 - 2044

Tasted blind. Spicy and sweet and exotic. Difficult to spit. Real energy here. Long and with great layers and excitement. Hint of tarriness. 15%
Drink 2028 – 2050

54% Bouchet (local clone of Cabernet Franc, also known as Bouchet Franc or Gros Bouchet), 46% Merlot. Barrel sample.
Darkest crimson. Both spicy and creamy on the nose, and with a cool stony fragrance as well as the delicate but focused black fruits. Darker fruited than many vintages. Silky and papery finesse with dark-red fruit purity and so much charm and finesse in the texture. A touch peppery, very dry, almost chalky, so light and dancing and very long. Open but deceptively so because there is huge ageing potential and depth here. Incredibly lithe. Unique in Bordeaux in its style, finesse and hidden concentration. (JH)
Drink 2028-2043

54% Bouchet (a local and old clone of Cabernet Franc) and 46% Merlot. Deep purple in colour. Exotic, ripe and fleshy on the nose, accented with foral and mineral undertones that add lift and complexity. The palate has mouthfilling structure an rich but finely grained tannins. Unapologetic in structure, this will need at least a decade in bottle before reaching its prime. The fruit at the core is dense and ripe, bursting with cherries but also red summer pudding fruit. Graphite and a mineral edges come through with a hint of struck match, giving a cooling and savoury edge. The Bouchet (Cabernet Franc) is very noticeable and gives a weightless intensity and added delicacy to the structure. Very refined and long, with the moccha of oak already very well integrated, highlighting the clear concentration of fruit at the core. Long with hedgerow fruits on the finish. Superb.

While the oak is massive and the fruit is concentrated, too, there is an amazing amount of harmony already in this wine. Not as black or impenetrable as I might have expected this is a juicy Lafleur with some rounded edges already and this is a great sign for the future. With red fruit leading the way and a long, smooth, savoury, but not tannic, finish, this is a truly suave interpretation of the vintage and I have no doubt that everyone will fall for its charms.