Société Civile du Château Lafleur, 2020 Les Perrières de Lafleur
Pomerol's Château Lafleur is widely considered one of the top estate's in this tiny appellation, usually mentioned in the same breath alongside the likes of Château Pétrus and Le Pin. But there is one thing that has been part of the estate's history since inception that is particularly unique to Lafleur and makes it stand apart from all other châteaux in the region. Since 1872, of the estate's 4.5 hectares of vines, Cabernet Franc - historically known as Bouchet on the Right Bank - has comprised 50% of Lafleur's vineyard.
In a region where the classic varietal composition of vineyards is 80% or more Merlot and up to 20% Cabernet Franc, the Guinaudeau family, who are the current proprietors and direct descendents of founder Henri Greloud, attribute this special vineyard encépagement to the unique soil composition at Lafleur, which has a higher proportion gravels and sands mixed with clays.
Lafleur's commitment to their precious Bouchet vines has transcended generations. Beginning with André Robin, son-in-law to Henri Greloud, who planted vines in the 1930s via massale selection from 19th century Bouchet vine material. His daughters, Thérèse and Marie, continued the work of their father, most notably after the great frost of 1956. When it was easier and more fashionable to re-establish vineyards with Merlot and Cabernet Franc clones from the nursery, Thérèse and Marie preserved what they could of these heritage plants and established new vines over time.
Beginning in 1985, Jacques Guinaudeau, cousin to Thérèse and Marie, and his wife Sylvie, became the custodians of this vineyard, and later with the help of their son Baptiste and daughter-in-law Julie, the Guinaudeau family has worked for more than 15 years to re-plant all Lafleur Bouchet vines by selection massale from these same vine materials. Today, the family attributes the complexity of the wines made at Château Lafleur to be, above all, because of the priceless genetic heritage of their Bouchet vines.
This commitment to Lafleur's Bouchet now extends into a new project. Les Perrières de Lafleur was created by Baptiste and Julie Guinaudeau out of the desire to answer a simple question: what would be the expression of Lafleur Bouchet vines on the prized limestone soils of the Fronsac region. Following nine years of research, soil studies, purchasing and clearing the land, in 2016 the first Bouchet vines from Lafleur genetic material were planted by massale selection across two small plots near the hamlet of Meyney on the southwest edge of the Fronsac plateau. The first vintage of Les Perriéres de Lafleur was in 2018.
So today's wine is taking us to the greater Fronsac region, which has a rich history of viticulture that dates back to Roman times, when it, along with St-Emilion, were the first areas in Bordeaux to be planted to vine - 16 centuries before the marshlands of what is now the left bank were drained by the Dutch to make way for viticulture in the Médoc. Over centuries, the wines of Fronsac gained acclaim, and by the mid 1700s these wines were among the most celebrated in France, even served in the courts of King Louis XIV during the reign. Following phylloxera, the region began to fall out of favour, and despite its exceptional terroir, today Fronsac lives in the shadows of its illustrious neighbours, and the wines, as a result, offer exceptional value.
So the greater Fronsac region is situated at the confluence of the Dordogne and Isle Rivers. We're approximately 11km northwest of the village of St-Emilion and 23km northeast of the city of Bordeaux, and the heart of Pomerol is just 6km to the east. While Pomerol is much closer, the greater Fronsac region has more in common with St-Emilion from a terroir perspective, with a few important differences. Firstly, the region is about a fifth the size of St-Emilion and because of its position along the Dordogne it is a little cooler than St-Emilion. Secondly, there is virtually no alluvial soils in Fronsac, rather the terroir is dominated by two different types of limestones.
The area is made up of a series of hillocks or plateaus of limestone known as the "tertres de Fronsac." These tertres sit on a bedrock of calcaire à astéries. This is the same calcaire à astéries that dominates the plateau in St-Emilion. These hillocks are generally found at elevations of around 50 to 80m above sea level, with the highest point being around 88m above sea level. The vineyards here will generally have quite shallow topsoil that is a silty-clay texture.
Descending from the tertres at elevations of around 30-50m above sea level are the steep slopes of molasses de fronsadais. This is a softer type of limestone that makes up the underlying bedrock of the higher slopes in Fronsac, which is the exact same limestone as what we find on the higher slopes in St-Emilion. The topsoils can vary in depth and texture, but for the most part they are deeper than what we find on the plateau, and the textures range from silty-clays to clay-dominated soils, with some pockets of sandier topsoils.
So looking at the fruit selection for the 2020 vintage of Les Perrières de Lalfeur. This is from 3.6 hectares of vines, approximately 1.91 are Bouchet. The Bouchet vines are planted across two separate lieux-dits near the hamlet of Meyney, which in the commune of Villegouge less than 200m from the border of the commune of St-Germain-la-Rivière on the southwest part of the Fronsac plateau. The parcels are about 2.5km north of the Dordogne River, and this positioning relative to the Dordogne makes these parcels a little cooler compared to vineyards on the plateau further inland.
The parcels are at an elevation of around 80m above sea level. The topsoil is 40-50cm of calcareous silty-clay, sitting atop the yellowish, calcaire à asteries bedrock. The Bouchet was planted in 2016 by massale selection from the Lafleur vine material at a density of around 4800 vines per hectares. The Merlot was planted in 2017 by massale selection as well. It is important to note that while the parcels currently total about 3.6 hectares, there is an additional 2 hectares that will eventually come into production following a fallow period and a period of soil regeneration with cover crops. One of these plots was planted in 2023 and an additional to be planted this spring, with the intention to keep the encépagement a 50/50 split between Bouchet and Merlot. The careful work and attention to detail in the vineyard is carried out by the same team and to the exact same standard of that of Lafleur.
In terms of the winemaking, the fruit is all hand-harvested, sorted twice in the vineyard, and once at the cellar, and all the fruit is destemmed. The Bouchet and Merlot are vinified separately, and the fermentation is in a combination of stainless steel and concrete, reaching a maximum fermentation temperature of 30C. The time on skins ranges from 15 to 25 days depending on the variety, and the extractions are very gentle, with some light pump overs and constant tasting to achieve the right level of extraction. Aging is in 15 months in barrel, about 1/3 new, and two thirds in one year old barrels. The production of the 2020 vintage was about 11,000 bottles.
As a final note, the assemblage for the 2020 vintage is 71% Bouchet, 29% Merlot. And the Château did mention to be that this is the not typical blend, but the some of the parcels of Merlot were not fully in production this vintage, so there is less Merlot in the blend in 2020. So for most vintages, and the premise going forward, this wine will be approximately 50/50 Bouchet and Merlot.
Key wine wine facts below:
Producer: Société Civile du Château Lafleur (Famille Guinaudeau)
Appellation: Bordeaux Supérieur
Commune: Villegouge
Hamlet: Meyney
Lieux-Dits for the Bouchet vines: Les Poulains, Les Canards
Soils: 40-50cm calcareous silty-clay over calcaire à astéries
Assemblage: 71% Bouchet, 29% Merlot
Alcohol: 15.0%
