Chateau Lafleur 2015

A parcel cut from Le Gay

Henri Greloud, a Libourne wine merchant whose family had owned Château Grand Village in Mouillac since 1650, acquired Château Le Gay on the northern edge of Pomerol around 1850. In 1872 he separated from it a part called 'La Fleur' that he believed was of particular value and built a modest estate there. By 1893 the standard Bordeaux reference of the day ranked it third in Pomerol, behind only Vieux Château Certan and Petrus.

After Henri died in 1900 his son Charles inherited the estate. Childless, Charles sold Le Gay and Lafleur in 1915 to the Libourne merchant André Robin, who had married into the Greloud family. Robin sold his business to devote himself to the vines, built a nursery on the sands of Le Gay, selected old pre-phylloxera Cabernet Franc vines for Lafleur, and replaced older varieties such as Malbec with Merlot.

The vineyard today is a single near-rectangle about 300 meters long and 150 meters wide on the Pomerol plateau, a short walk from Petrus, La Fleur-Petrus and Vieux Château Certan. There is no sign at the gate. In 1996 a terroir study led by Cornelis van Leeuwen of the University of Bordeaux mapped 13 soil formations here: twelve from the gravel family and only one dominated by the iron-rich clay for which Petrus is famous. That clay runs diagonally across the vineyard as a small parcel now used for the estate's other Pomerol, Les Pensées.

The Robin sisters and the frost of 1956

When André Robin died, his daughters Thérèse and Marie took over Le Gay and Lafleur. One source dates the handover to 1946 and another to Robin's death in December 1947. The unmarried, deeply religious sisters chose to honor their father at Lafleur by changing nothing. They used oxen rather than horses, bought their first tractor only in 1975, and, according to one account, slept in the same modest bedroom at Le Gay for almost 70 years.

In February 1956 a hard frost destroyed a large share of Bordeaux's vines, by one estimate 80 percent across the region and as much as 90 percent in Pomerol. The government launched a rapid aid program to help growers recover. The Robin sisters did not uproot a single vine. By one account about 70 percent of Lafleur's old vines came back the following spring, which is why the estate has some of the oldest vines in Pomerol and the highest share of Cabernet Franc in the appellation.

Outside interest came slowly. The critic Robert Parker first visited in 1975, when Lafleur sold for about the same price as the Médoc fifth growth Grand-Puy-Lacoste. In 1981 Christian Moueix, owner of neighboring Petrus, persuaded the sisters to let his Petrus team, led by Jean-Claude Berrouet, run the vineyard and cellar; their 1982 is still counted among the estate's great wines.

Thérèse died in 1984. Jacques Guinaudeau, the sisters' nephew and a descendant of Henri Greloud, and his wife Sylvie then took over the estate under a traditional half-lease from Marie. Sources give their start as 1984 or 1985. They found about 30 percent of the vines dead and rebuilt the vineyard, and in 1987 created a separate wine, Pensées de Lafleur. Marie died in 2001, and the family bought out the remaining heirs, selling Le Gay to do so. Their son Baptiste and his wife Julie joined the estate and took over its management in 2012; Omri Ram, a former sommelier from Tel Aviv, arrived the following year and became cellar master.

2015: heat, drought, then rain

Bordeaux's 2015 season began with a warm April, an early May heat wave and a quick, even flowering that started around May 25. On June 29 a heat wave pushed vineyard temperatures to 41 degrees Celsius. May, June and July were among the hottest and driest months on record in most appellations, and by the end of July the vines had received almost 50 percent less rain than in recent vintages.

August reversed course and became one of the wettest on record, with some vineyards receiving as much as 100 mm of rain. Cooler September nights helped the grapes keep freshness. Rain fell again in mid-September, and many Pomerol estates began picking around September 17.

Lafleur picked its Merlot early, on September 11 and 15, and waited for its Cabernet Franc until October 1 and 2. One report puts the finished wine at 14.1 percent alcohol with a pH of 3.75. The blend was close to half and half, but the sources disagree on which grape made up 51 percent: one critic's notes give 51 percent Merlot, another's 51 percent Cabernet Franc. The family later named 2015, with 2019 and 2022, as vintages that showed how fast the climate was changing.

What the critics said

Tasting from barrel in April 2016, the critic Jeff Leve gave the wine 98-100 points and called it 'a deep, long kiss that is concentrated, clean, precise and fresh.' He later rated it 100, describing it as 'opulent, bordering on decadence' and advising buyers to wait at least 15 years. James Suckling also gave it 100 points. Tim Atkin gave it 99 and called it 'one of my top two wines of the vintage,' 'a subtle, complex, finely judged Pomerol from an exceptional terroir, made with Burgundian love of the land.'

Neal Martin, writing for Robert Parker's Wine Advocate in April 2016, scored the barrel sample 97-99 and predicted it would 'be one of the standout wines of the vintage' after about ten years in bottle. Jancis Robinson gave it 18.5 out of 20 and called it a 'gorgeous elixir.'

Not every taster was convinced at first. One Bordeaux writer who tasted it four times found it surprisingly light and oaky in April 2016, scoring it 92+, then 99 that October, 96-97 in March 2017, and 98 after it 'took off' in bottle. Jeff Leve lists 2015 among the vintages that 'could be the best' Lafleur has ever made.

How the wine is made

The Lafleur vineyard holds close to 21,000 vines in 24 parcels, planted at 6,000 to 7,500 vines per hectare, with Merlot and Cabernet Franc often side by side in the same row and color-coded so pickers can tell them apart. The soils are never turned, only raked, so the large gravel stones stay on the surface to store and radiate heat. Plots are picked one at a time as each reaches ripeness.

Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel, a practice the estate began in 1991. By one account the wine is aged in about 25 percent new French oak, down from as much as 50 percent in the past, for about 15 months before bottling. Another source gives 18 to 20 months in 33 to 50 percent new barrels, so practice has varied over time. Since 2002 the label has again carried the founder's name, Greloud, in place of the owners' signatures.

Production is tiny. By one account Lafleur makes only about 1,000 cases a year, and in difficult years the family has made no Lafleur at all, as in 1987 and 1991. In 2019 the family stopped selling through the Bordeaux négociant system and took distribution into its own hands. In October 2026 a US merchant listed the 2015 at $1,693.56 a bottle, and a fine wine investment platform quoted a 12-bottle case held in bond at $14,360; both are asking or market figures, not sales.

Leaving the appellation

In a letter dated August 24, 2025, the Guinaudeau family announced that, starting with the 2025 vintage, all six of their wines would be labeled Vin de France rather than Pomerol or Bordeaux. 'The vintages 2015, 2019, and above all 2022, were all strong evidence of [climate change]. 2025 goes a step further. We must think, readapt, act,' they wrote. 'We change to remain the same.'

Lafleur became the first of Bordeaux's top tier to leave the appellation system. One writer who tasted the 2025 reported that it is Vin de France because the vineyard was watered during the growing season, which appellation rules do not allow. The 2015, made a decade earlier, still carries the Pomerol name, yet it is one of the vintages the family itself cited as a turning point.

The numbers

Vineyard size

About 4.5 hectares (4.58 by one account), one block

Vines

Close to 21,000, in 24 parcels

Production

About 1,000 cases a year

2015 blend

About 51/49 Merlot and Cabernet Franc; sources disagree on which is 51%

Jeff Leve

100 (98-100 from barrel, April 2016)

James Suckling

100

Tim Atkin

99

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate

97-99 from barrel (April 2016)

Jancis Robinson

18.5 out of 20

Timeline

1. 1872

   Henri Greloud separates the 'La Fleur' parcel from Château Le Gay and builds a small estate.

2. 1893

   A standard Bordeaux reference ranks Lafleur third in Pomerol.

3. 1900

   Charles Greloud inherits the estate.

4. 1915

   André Robin buys Le Gay and Lafleur.

5. Feb 1956

   A severe frost devastates Pomerol; the Robin sisters replant nothing and most old vines recover.

6. 1975

   Robert Parker makes his first visit; the estate buys its first tractor.

7. 1981

   The Petrus team begins working the vineyard and cellar.

8. 1984

   Thérèse Robin dies; Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau take over under a half-lease (some sources say 1985).

9. 1987

   Pensées de Lafleur is created.

10. 1991

    Malolactic fermentation in barrel begins.

11. 1996

    A soil study maps 13 soil formations in the vineyard.

12. 2001

    Marie Robin dies; the Guinaudeaus buy out the other heirs.

13. 2012

    Baptiste and Julie Guinaudeau take over management.

14. Sep 11, 2015

    Merlot harvest for the 2015 begins; more Merlot follows on September 15.

15. Oct 2, 2015

    The last Cabernet Franc for the 2015 is picked.

16. Apr 2016

    Critics taste the 2015 from barrel; scores range from 92+ to 98-100.

17. 2018

    A new cellar opens; Pensées de Lafleur is renamed Les Pensées.

18. 2019

    The family stops selling through négociants.

19. Aug 24, 2025

    The family announces it will leave the Pomerol and Bordeaux appellations from the 2025 vintage, citing 2015 among the warning years.

The world in 2015

• Jan 7, 2015

  Gunmen kill 12 people at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo.

• Apr 25, 2015

  A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Nepal.

• Jul 1, 2015

  Greece becomes the first advanced economy to miss a payment to the IMF.

• Sep 18, 2015

  Volkswagen is alleged to have rigged diesel emissions tests on about 11 million vehicles.

• Sep 28, 2015

  NASA announces evidence of liquid water on Mars.

• Dec 12, 2015

  Nations agree a climate pact at the COP 21 summit in Paris.

• Dec 22, 2015

  SpaceX lands a Falcon 9 booster after an orbital launch for the first time.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Chateau Lafleur 2015 is number 30 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (22 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Lafleur's founder carved it out of another estate, Le Gay, because he believed one parcel was special.
• The Robin sisters farmed with oxen and bought their first tractor in 1975, which they called 'the beast.'
• When frost wiped out most of Pomerol in 1956, the sisters refused to replant; about 70 percent of their old vines survived.
• The iron-rich clay that made neighboring Petrus famous covers only one small diagonal strip of Lafleur, and its grapes go into a different wine.
• Since 2002 the label has carried the founder's name, Greloud, instead of the owners' signatures.
• By one account, the family released no Lafleur at all in 1987 or 1991.
• The family named the 2015 vintage as early evidence of the climate change that led them to leave the Pomerol appellation a decade later.