Farr Vintners Logo

Lafleur 2017

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot/Cabernet Franc

One of Bordeaux's biggest name "cult wines". Tiny production levels and a long pedigree of great quality ensure that collectors fight for an allocation every year despite the high prices. The vineyard totals 4.5ha, with 0.69ha going to a second wine, Les Pensées de Lafleur. The vineyard is roughly half-and-half Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Lafleur

Label

Tasting Notes

OMG. What a glorious wine on the nose with aromas of blackberries, black licorice, ink and blood-oranges. Full-bodied, tight and powerful with compact tannins that cascade across the palate, giving this incredible structure and length that makes it seem to go on for ever. Titanium and graphite flavors. Super length. Half merlot and half cabernet franc. Try after 2025.

99
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, January 2020

Tasted blind. Deep ruby colour. Dense and brooding on the nose, dark fruited with hints of incense. The palate is highly polished in fruit but bold in structure, chewy tannins persist from start to finish. Star anise and sweeter liquorice together with cedar in spice profile, this fights with the fruit for dominance but the balance is just about there. A raw, youthful and muscular style – wine that should be cellared and forgotten for a while.
Drink 2028 – 2043

17.5+
Thomas Parker MW, JancisRobinson.com, October 2021

Lafleur 2017 is a blend of 51% Merlot and 49% Cabernet Franc and has a medium to deep garnet-purple color. It is very closed to begin with, slowly unfurling to reveal the most gorgeous floral notes of roses, lavender, star anise, and charcuterie with a waft of crushed rocks. The full-bodied palate knocks your socks off with the most beautiful, slow-releasing layers in the mouth, framed by super-plush tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with incredible length and spiciness.

98
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, December 2022

The more gravelly soils of Lafleur have responded beautifully this year, expressing a real creaminess and density to the black fruits. There's a clear Cabernet Franc edge to the nose and to the attack on the palate, with a corresponding austerity and tightness to the tannins and a slightly chewy finish. There's a sense of momentum as the acidity rises through the palate, and it certainly has some of the power and sense of confident elegance of the 2016 vintage here. They avoided most of the frost damage here, and so were able to harvest the Merlots before the rain, between 8-12 September, and waited until 28-29 September for the Cabernets.
Drinking Window 2026 - 2040

95
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, April 2018

Very dark. Darkly fragrant. Incredibly pure cassis nose and just a touch of graphite/mineral dustiness. Super-elegant fine tannins, more dark charm than Les Pensées. Paper-fine texture slides across the palate in delicate persistence. Layers of paper giving embryonic complexity. Gorgeous. Utterly refined. Incredibly long.
Drink 2027-2040

18.5
Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2018

Lovely and plush this is an indulgent wine with layer upon layer of fresh fruit and it is exotically scented with sweet spices and leather, which gives the whole experience a rather juicy and attractive sheen. There is little aggression on the finish even though the tannins are firm, and it will age very well in spite of being one the most forward vintages for a long while.

18.5+
Matthew Jukes, Matthew Jukes' Blog, April 2018
Read more tasting notes...

Composed of 52% Cabernet Franc and 48% Merlot, the 2017 Lafleur displays a deep garnet-purple color. It slowly unfurls in the glass to reveal a profound nose of plum preserves, mulberries, boysenberries and licorice with nuances of grilled meats, black truffles, cast-iron pan and crushed rocks plus fragrant wafts of cinnamon stick and violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is charged with fantastically energetic black and blue fruits, framed by super-ripe, finely grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length. At this stage of the game, qualitatively the 2017 Lafleur is one to two ticks short of where the 2015 and 2016 vintages are. This said, I'm anticipating there are a lot of latent nuances here waiting to emerge, snuggly filling this substantial structure over the next decade. It should be quite delicious in 6-8 years, but I'd give it 10-15 at least for maximum impact.

98+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2020), March 2020

A structured and muscular red with blackberry, dark-chocolate and mineral character. Violet undertones. Very tight and tannic. Full-bodied, extremely closed and concentrated. Steely.

97/98
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2018

Lafleur’s 2017 Merlot came in just before the rain. Cellar Master Omri Ram commented, “The 2017 Merlot was very similar to the 2015. With the Cabernet Franc, we waited; we were patient, and it came in ripe yet more fresh than the Merlot.” As it turns out, that combo of the wonderfully decadent Merlot and the galvanizing Cabernet Franc are just magic! Blended of 47% Merlot and 53% Cabernet Franc, the 2017 Lafleur has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and opens with a positively electric intensity of red and black fruits—cherries, black plums, red currants, black raspberries and mulberries—with touches of roses, cinnamon stick, smoked meats and forest floor plus a hint of truffles. Medium to full-bodied with densely packed layers of red and black fruits accented by floral and earthy sparks, it possesses very firm, very finely pixelated tannins and a lively backbone, finishing with epic persistence.

97/100
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (236), April 2018
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.