2022 Les Pensees

The 2022 Les Pensées is very backward and reserved on the nose, but there is real power locked inside, mainly black fruit with touches of brown spice. The palate is medium-bodied with smooth tannins, just a patina of new oak to be absorbed, with pleasing fleshiness coming through on the satin-textured finish. Lovely. Very seductive. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.

Truffles, black cherries, and dark chocolate fill the perfume. The wine is rich, lush, opulent, and deep, with layers of deep, plums, dark cocoa, and fresh mint, that adds a refreshing touch to the finish. The wine blends 57% Merlot with 43% Cabernet Franc.

The 2022 Pensées de Lafleur is a head-turning, sensual wine, bursting with aromas of minty cherries and berries mingled with orange zest, black truffle and rose petal. Full-bodied, velvety and layered, it's deep, suave and seamless, with an enveloping core of fruit and tannins so polished that they caress the palate. 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, still lives in the shadow of its grander sibling, but it's a must-purchase for me every year.