CHATEAU LAFLEUR-GAZIN Pomerol 2013
Château Lafleur-Gazin is an estate in the Pomerol appellation on Bordeaux’s Right Bank. Its grand vin, like many others in the appellation, is made from a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
As the name suggests, the 8.5-hectare (21-acre) vineyard is located between Château Lafleur and Château Gazin. Most of the vineyard has the gravel soils that are typical of the top of the Pomerol plateau, and sandier soils on the slopes down towards the Barbanne stream. Lafleur-Gazin’s vineyard is planted 80 percent to Merlot with the remainder made up of Cabernet Franc. The proportions in the final wine may vary by some distance from this – the 2015 vintage contained just two percent Cabernet Franc.
Grapes are sorted in the winery using two laser sorting tables, and fermented in a combination of concrete and stainless steel tanks, all thermoregulated. Lafleur-Gazin uses vertical basket presses, with press wines added back to the blend during maturation. The wine is aged for 18-20 months in French oak barrels, with 25 percent new wood. It is racked three or four times during maturation and fined with egg whites before bottling.
Château Lafleur-Gazin is owned by the Borderie family, but since 1976 has been under a long term rental agreement with Jean-Pierre Moueix Vins, which farms the property and produces and markets the wines.
Bordeaux Pomerol wines are rich, decadent reds, with notes of chocolate, dark cherry, plums and spice, soft tannins and elegance courtesy of the Merlot grape.
The most lush—and expensive—wines come from a plateau of clay, gravel and iron, while lighter, more acidic wines come from the region’s sandy soils.
Situated on the Right Bank of Bordeaux, Pomerol is dominated by small estates that command premium prices.
Approximately 80 percent of the region’s plantings are Merlot, unlike other regions of Bordeaux where no one grape dominates so singularly; and one disadvantage is that bad weather can wreak havoc on an individual vintage.
