2024 Pensees de Lafleur, Pomerol

Solid and very precise, showing wonderfully integrated tannins with drive and focus. Polished and extremely poised. Medium-bodied, this has creamy texture and a long, vibrant finish. Reminds me of the superb 1995. A blend of 64% merlot and 36% bouchet (cabernet franc).

A blend of 64% Merlot (harvested on September 23rd) and 36% Cabernet Franc (picked on September 30th), the 2024 Pensées de Lafleur is a sensual and remarkably pure expression of the vintage. Evoking aromas of rose, violet, flowers, cassis and cherries, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and sappy with a pure, polished and seamless mid-palate framed by powdery tannins, culminating in a long, ethereal finish delicately redolent of rose petals. While not as deep as in some previous vintages, this is nonetheless an especially graceful and refined interpretation of this cuvée, derived 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 (and farmed accordingly).

Sweet damson fruit aromatics, good density, Pomerol character, rose petals, smoked earth and grilled red plum, this has touches of sweet almond and salted caramel, giving salinity and lift, gently placed tannins, pulses of minerality that delivers the freshness of the year without aggression. Yields here in the late 30s, higher than average in Pomerol. Harvest 25 September to 3 October.

The 2024 Les Pensées was picked September 23 to 30. This has quite a complex bouquet with blackcurrant, bilberry and light estuarine scents percolating through with time. The palate is quite arresting, one of the few Merlot wines with genuine grip and heft, but it maintains refinement on the peppery finish. The 2024 feels long and sustained and worthy of bottle age. It will develop wonderfully in time.

The 2024 Pensées De Lafleur sports a deep ruby/purple hue as well as a gorgeous nose of ripe black raspberries, damp earth, graphite, and tobacco, with a gorgeous floral character coming through with air. Medium-bodied, very pretty, and elegant, with an almost chalky minerality, it has fine tannins, nicely integrated acidity, and outstanding length. It's another pure, elegant, seamless wine from this brilliant team.

The 2024 Les Pensées de Lafleur is a very pretty wine. Clay-rich soils yield a Pomerol of natural breadth and resonance. Black cherry, graphite, lavender, mocha and dried herbs build nicely, all framed by strong Cabernet Franc inflections that add character.

Antonio Galloni, Vinous (April 2025)

64% Merlot, 36% Bouchet (Cabernet Franc). Cask sample. Red-berry fragrance. Plenty of lift and freshness with a real quality of tannin. Energy as well. (JL)