Lafleur 2017 'oversubscribed', says UK merchant

Lafleur 2017 saw strong demand in the first day of release this week after the Pomerol estate emerged as one of the success stories of a weather-hit Bordeaux Right Bank vintage.

Justerini & Brooks, one of the UK distributors for Lafleur alongside Armit Wines, and one of the UK agents for neighbouring Petrus alongside Corney & Barrow and Berry Bros, saw Bordeaux en primeur demand for Lafleur 2017 exceed supply this week, according to the merchant’s buying director, Giles Burke-Gaffney.

‘Now we’re going to have to look at how we spread it out [among customers],’ he told Decanter.com.

Lafleur’s 2017 ‘first wine’ was pitched at a significant discount to the current market prices for 2016 and 2015, according to both Burke-Gaffney and also Liv-ex analysis.

Justerini initially offered the wine in varying formats, including a three-bottle case for £1,335 in bond.

Liv-ex reported that the sterling release price was around 3.5% higher than the 2016 release.

Decanter’s Bordeaux critic, Jane Anson, rated Lafleur 2017 at 95 points following the recent Bordeaux en primeur tastings and highlighted it as one of several triumphs on the Right Bank in the face of one of the most devastating frosts in living memory during the growing season.

Lafleur and neighbouring Petrus largely escaped nature’s wrath, helped by more than 1,000 candles lit throughout Lafleur’s 4.5-hectare vineyard in late April 2017.

The 2017 vintage of Lafleur’s second wine, Pensées de Lafleur, was also released en primeur this week and was being sold by Justerini for £564 for a six-bottle case.

Elsewhere, it’s been a relatively quiet week for Bordeaux primeur releases, in terms of top names. There are expectations within the trade of a busy period of releases over the next fortnight, prior to the Vinexpo Hong Kong expo.