Les Pensées de Lafleur 2021

Aromas of raspberries, mulberries, iris and rose petals introduce the 2021 Pensées de Lafleur, a medium to full-bodied, supple and suave wine that's polished, pure and velvety, its sweet core of fruit built around lively acids and ultra-refined tannins, concluding with a long, precise finish. Drink 2027-2047.

The 2021 is 59% Merlot (harvested on 28th September) and 41% Bouchet (old strain Cabernet Franc, harvested on 2nd October). From a 0.75 hectare strip of land with deep clays that are rich in iron, much more like other Pomerols than the soils for the Grand Vin, which are stony and have more in common with Pauillac. Bright purple colour. The nose is highly floral with violet, cherry blossom and woody herb stems. The palate is cool yet fleshy in fruit, giving a perception of power and tension. Succulent and yet lined with acidity, it shows equal parts juicy ripe fruit and saline spices. This is a long and fine example of the vintage, the power of the finish suggesting it may be even better from bottle.

Aromas of rose petals, raspberries, plums and musk introduce the 2021 Pensées de Lafleur, a medium to full-bodied, seamless and enveloping wine that's deep and sensual, it's ripe tannins entirely concealed in an ample core of succulent, pungently perfumed fruit. As I've written before, this cuvée derives from vines growing in the part of Lafleur's vineyard through which a water course once flowed and where the soils are richer in clay and better hydrated. It's a blend of 59% Merlot and 41% Cabernet Franc; this bottling hasn't really been a "second wine" since the late 1990s—but the market doesn't seem to have caught on.