Region | |
---|---|
Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol |
Colour | Red |
Type | Still |
The delicious, open-knit 2013 Les Pensees de Lafleur (59% Merlot and 41% Cabernet Franc) reveals plenty of mocha and berry fruit, sweet tannin, and a lightweight, charming, seductive personality. Drink this consumer-friendly 2013 over the next 6-7 years.
This vintage's growing season - a cold spring, hot July and stressful September with high humidity with lots of pressure from botrytis forming in the red grapes - resulted in a small crop at Lafleur.
The 2013 Les Pensees de Lafleur has a fragrant bouquet with red cherries, strawberry and a light marine influence. The palate is medium-bodied and well balanced, with slightly chalky tannin and decent depth of fruit, fresh and lively with an easy-going but quite edgy finish. Enjoy this Pensées de Lafleur over the next 6-8 years.
The second wine of Lafleur is a blend of 59% Merlot picked on 2 October and 41% Cabernet Franc picked on 17 October. There is quite a big change this year since one parcel of Merlot that was always used for the second was pulled up whilst simultaneously 420 vines from one of the best parcels of Lafleur has been reassigned to Pensées. The result is a much more serious wine, one that more closely resembles the Grand Vin. It has a bright bouquet with dark plum, raspberry and a touch of iodine, certainly a Merlot-driven nose with just a hint of truffle in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with a strictness that is more Cabernet Franc in style and seems more structured than previous vintages. There is fine precision, more tightly wound than previous vintages but I think it will be longer lived. This is worth checking out.