Wine Advisor
La Fleur de Bouard 2012
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A blend of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, it transcends the vintage boasting a black/purple color along with sweet black raspberry and blueberry fruit notes intermixed with spring flowers, incense, new oak and lavender. Rich and intensely concentrated, this beauty should drink well for a decade or more. The reigning reference point for just how remarkable the wines of Lalande de Pomerol can be is La Fleur de Bouard (I highly recommend visiting these cellars which are all gravity fed). The 2012 La Fleur de Bouard was produced from relatively high yields of 42 hectoliters per hectare, but you would never know that tasting the wine. The limited production 5-acre vineyard that produced the 2012 La Plus de la Fleur de Bouard is hors classe. Cropped at 20 hectoliters per hectare, with 14.5% natural alcohol, this is a big, bruising wine. Both wines come from the high Neac plateau of the appellation.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2012 Fleur de Boüard (in bottle) offers up copious quantities of dark raspberry, blueberries and spring flowers. It has soft velvety tannins, medium to full body, and a very sexy, lush mouthfeel. This is a gorgeous opaque, ruby/purple Lalande de Pomerol that no one will be able to resist. Drink it over the next decade.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Not yet in bottle, the 2012 Le Plus, which is also called Cuvée Oscar, is one of those profound wines that exceeds all realistic parameters for what’s expected from this appellation. Inky purple in color, with stunning blackberry, blueberry and raspberry fruit notes, licorice, as well as graphite and spring flowers, the wine is opulent, full-bodied, massively concentrated and a tour de force from an obsessed genius of Bordeaux. It should drink well for 20 or more years.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Aromas of blueberries, minerals and stones follow through to a full body, with silky tannins and a delicious finish already. I like the sweet fruit on the finish.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
A very polished red with plum, wet earth, blackberry and spice character. Full body, soft, chewy tannins and a juicy finish. Drink in 2017.
About the Producer
Chateau La Fleur de Bouard is located in the heart of France on the right bank of the Garonne River, close to the two famous appellations of St. Emilion and Pomeral, and in a unique geographical location. The vineyards of the winery are located in the Lalande de Pomerol appellation and cover an area of 25 hectares. Of these, 17 hectares are located on the Neac plateau, with soils composed of top clay and deep gravel. The remaining 8 hectares of the vineyard are made up of larger pebble grains and a few clays. The vineyards are planted with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, with a density of 8,547 vines per hectare. The grapes of Château Baudelaire are macerated at a low temperature of 4 to 8°C before being fermented in alcoholic fermentation in wooden winemaking vats or oak barrels. Depending on the grape variety and the year of harvest, the wine is stored in new and old oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and maturation for 12 to 33 months. Château La Fleur Saint Georges offers three series of wines: Le Plus de la Fleur de Bouard, La Fleur de Bouard and Chateau La Fleur Saint Georges. Among them, the 2009 vintage of Bouard has a deep color, aromas of red and black fruits, slightly vanilla and coffee, a rounded palate with silky tannins, a complex structure and a long finish, making it the best Bouard to date.
