Société Civile du Château Lafleur

In the northern part of the plateau of Pomerol sits an 11-hectare property that is one of the jewels in the crown of the appellation, Château Lafleur. Considered to be almost Burgundian in style due to its elegance and individuality, it is a single vineyard planted to equal parts Bouchet and Merlot. The texture, complexity, minerality, and depth are reminiscent of some of the most exceptional Pinot Noir.

Acquired by Henri Greloud in 1872, who owned Château Le Gay, he was the first to produce single vineyards wines in Pomerol, discovering over the decades that the wines crafted from this small plot were better than those of its neighbors. When Monsieur Greloud passed in 1946, his two daughters, Marie and Thérèse Robin, took over the estate, and time stood still. The sisters remarkably made no changes to viticulture practices; everything was done by hand with small tools, and plowing was done with an ox until 1979, nor did they ever use chemicals or pesticides, making Lafleur is one of the few vineyards on the planet to have never seen chemicals. To repopulate the vineyard, all the old vines were grafted with massale selection by hand. They never purchased Merlot clones, and by doing so, Lafleur has some of the oldest vines in Bordeaux. The current owner, Jacques Guinaudeau, is the great-grandson of Monsieur Greloud, and he and his wife, Sylvie, their son, Baptiste, and wife, Julie, returned to the estate when Thérèse Robin passed in 1985 and became the sole owner of the property in 2002. For almost a century, the wines have defined some of the most renowned winemaking in the region. They have transcended their geographical composition and yet are characterized by these very soils.

Since 1987, a different wine, Pensées de Lafleur, has been produced. It is a cru of its own, coming from a diagonal parcel of vines in the center of the Lafleur vineyards.

Also owned by Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau, Château Grand Village benefits handsomely from its association with the iconic estate. With a history that stretches back centuries, it was founded in 1650 by Jacques Verdery, a direct ancestor of the Guinaudeau family. Grand Village is situated just north of Fronsac in Mouillac and bottled under the Bordeaux Supérieur appellation. Planted entirely to massale selection from Lafleur, the vineyard is farmed biodynamically. It receives the same care and attention to detail that produces its stablemates.

Jacques and Sylvie, joined by their son and daughter-in-law Baptiste and Julie, have taken this estate in a bold new direction, crafting this wine with the same means and spirit applied to Lafleur. Grapes are grown on 20 hectares of clay, limestone, and gravel soil similar to that found in St-Emilion. Reds are planted to about 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, while three hectares of white grapes are planted to 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillon. After careful hand harvest and grape selection, wines are fermented in concrete and stainless steel and then moved to oak for aging – of which about 30% is new for the red wine.

In more recent years, Julie and Baptiste Guinaudeau have founded two more labels, adding to the illustrious roster of wines produced by Société Civile du Château Lafleur. Since 2018, Les Perrières has illustrated the heights that the unique Bouchet de Lafleur can reach. Founded in 2013, Les Champs Libres is a celebration of white wine produced with Sauvignon Blanc vines sourced from Sancerre and planted on the clay-limestone parcels of À Louima, Les Pêchers and Les Acacias, and Mathilde.

Société Civile du Château Lafleur,’s wines have represented some of the greatest winemaking in the Bordeaux for decades. The extraordinary nature of their bottlings is renowned throughout the wine world – these are incomparable Bordeaux that provide an unparalleled drinking experience.