1999 Château Lafleur Pomerol Bordeaux France Wine Tasting Note
10504 Views
It seems to have been almost 9 years since my last crack at this wine. Time has been good here. Splash decanted and poured, which initially brought about a nice plummy, slightly firm wine with loads of earth, flowers, and truffle with a touch of olives. 1 hour later things picked up. The wine fleshed out and began delivering ripe plums, chocolate, truffle, flowers, mint, and fig. The tannins softened, helping the wine to spread out, soften and leave you with cocoa topped cherries, plums, and a touch of mint on the backend. I was not expecing this bottle to be so good. 3,006 Views Tasted Dec 13, 2021Quite a nice surprise for the vintage. Without decanting, the initial sip was a bit dry, but with 30 minutes of air, plums, earth, oak, spice and olive notes began to emerge. With an hour of air, the medium bodied wine softened, taking on a fresh, plum, soft textured and cherry personality. 7,498 Views Tasted Jan 31, 2013 |
When to Drink Chateau Lafleur, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time
Chateau Lafleur is not a wine to drink young. It needs time to develop its nuances. Depending on the vintage, 15-20 or 30 years of bottle age will add dramatically to the wine's complexities and unique textural characteristics. Young vintages can be decanted for 2-4 hours or more.
This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. Chateau Lafleur offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 15-50 years of age after the vintage.
Serving Chateau Lafleur with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips
Chateau Lafleur is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.
Chateau Lafleur is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Chateau Lafleur is also good when matched with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like rare tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.