Château Lafleur withdraws from appellation system
Château Lafleur has announced that it is withdrawing from both the Pomerol AOC and wider Bordeaux designation from the 2025 vintage, with all six wines in the Société Civile du Château Lafleur group set to become Vins de France.
In a statement from the Guinaudeau family on Sunday, it announced that its “off the beaten path philosophy” has led it to make “strong and sometimes even radical changes” that were “crucial” if they want to keep producing the Lafleur wines “they dearly love”.
The statement cited “fast and hard” climate change – as seen most clearly in the 2015, 209 and 2022 vintages – with 2025 going “a step further” – although it did not specify exactly what it was not able to do within the appellation that had led it to “think, readapt and act”.
Although the statement from the family was at pains to underline its respect for the appellations and other producers, the decision-making “and the resulting practices are in fact evolving much faster than what is authorised in our Appellation of Origine system,” it said.
There appears to be some speculation in Bordeaux that it may be connected to the difficulty in triggering the dispensation to use irrigation; however, what does remain clear is that progress needs to be made on the ongoing discussion on how to revise appellation rules in the light of accelerating climate change.
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Withdrawing from the appellation was “a strong decision that will allow us to face the reality of climate change with precision and efficiency,” it said. “Beyond the designation, nothing changes. We are, and we will always remain, loyal to the fundamental values of Lafleur; the same exceptional terroir since 1872, the same noble vine genetics, the same family, the same team, the same philosophy. We change to remain the same.”
The Société Civile du Château Lafleur comprises six Crus; Château Lafleur, the 4.5ha vineyard parcel on Pomerol’s famed plateau, which was acquired by Jacques Guinaudeau’s great-grandfather Henri Greloud in 1872; Les Pensées, originally established as Les Pensées de Lafleur, Château Lafleur’s second wine, although its unique terroir within Lafleur’s vineyard was later recognised as its own Cru; the newer vineyards, Les Perrières, which debuted with the 2018 vintage and Les Champs Libres, which was established in 2013; and Château Grand Village Rouge and Château Grand Village Blanc in Mouillac, Fronsac, which date back to 1650.
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