Chateau Lafleur, Pomerol 2024

A superb red for the vintage with so much character, singing Lafleur like a world-class opera singer. So spicy and floral, showing tobacco, cherries and redcurrants. Some milk chocolate and truffles. Complex with seductive tannins and creamy acidity. Wonderful length. Reminds me of the 1978. A blend of 45% merlot and 55% bouchet (cabernet franc).

Takes its time in the glass to unroll, as true in 2024 as in any other vintage of Lafleur. Dark fruit character, leafy cassis bud alongside blackcurrant, gunsmoke, poppy seeds, black tea, crayon, even the beginnings of white truffle. Remarkable how different the structure, fruit quality and tannins here are to many others in the vintage - if you are planning to secure any of the big names, this should be on your shortlist. Builds in intensity in the glass, certainly you don't need to worry if you are a collector and don't want to miss a vintage. Harvest 20 to 30 September. They did no green harvesting here, and with the terroir plus careful work in the vineyard, the yields are in mid to high 30s. Lafleur team working under Julie and Baptiste Guinaudeau. 25% new oak.

The 2024 Lafleur was picked September 20 to September 30. It has a discrete bouquet which is unusual for Lafleur at this stage, very harmonious with a mixture of blackcurrant and graphite scents, erring towards Left Bank in style as this Pomerol is wont to do. The palate is medium-bodied with a dash of white pepper on the entry. There is an entrancing symmetry to this Lafleur, and it feels very composed and poised towards the finish, which the Bouchet [Cabernet Franc] has shaped. This is a multi-faceted Lafleur, which is some achievement in this growing season. It will be fascinating to watch evolve in bottle.

The 2024 Lafleur offers up an exotic mélange of vibrant red fruit, blood orange, spice, rose petal and white pepper. Today, all of the wine's energy feels directed inwards, resulting in a Lafleur that is quite reticent. There's quite a bit of potential here, but the 2024 is pretty shut down at this stage. Time in the glass brings out the wine's textural finesse.

The 2024 Lafleur is an ode to leisurely, slow ripening, offering a delicately perfumed bouquet of violets, cherries, cassis, flowers and spices. Medium to full-bodied, layered and pure, it's seamless and polished with ultrarefined tannins and a delicate yet vibrant core of fruit, culminating in a long, ethereal finish laced with rose petal nuances. Less dense and structured than many recent vintages, it evokes the charm and elegance of 1983 or 1985, reimagined through a modern lens (and a cooler, wetter growing season), both in viticulture and vinification.