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Robert Parker

 

 

Château La Fleur Morange Grand Classé de 2013 a 2009

 

2013  La Fleur Morange                (87-89) points

 

The top cuvee is the 2013 La Fleur Morange that comes from a five-acre parcel with the vines averaging 80 years. The wine is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and meant for much longer-term aging. The 2013 shows an abundance of chalky minerality and a surprisingly lofty natural alcohol level at 13.7%. This is from a tiny production of 2,400 bottles - or only 200 cases.

 

2012  La Fleur Morange                          RATING: (92-94+) points

ESTIMATED COST:           $46-$61

In total contrast is the 2012 La Fleur Morange. This sensational effort exhibits an inky/blue/purple color as well as a sumptuous bouquet of blueberry jam, creme de cassis, incense and camphor as well as a touch of background oak (the wine is aged in 100% new French barrels). Full-bodied and long with ripe tannin, this impressive 2012 should drink well for 15+ years.

Another exclusivity of Jeffrey M. Davies Signature Selections, this excellent estate produces an early-bottled cuvee from 100% Merlot called Mathilde. From a 5-acre parcel of 80-year-old vines cropped at 25 hectoliters per hectare, it is a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc that reached 14.5% natural alcohol.

2011  La Fleur Morange                         RATING:    91 points

ESTIMATED COST:           $46-$65

The wine was a little closed when I tasted it, but I want to remind readers that I forgot to include the 2011 La Fleur Morange in my review of that vintage in Issue #212 and it is a real winner. It is a stunning example of the vintage and quite drinkable and showy at present. The 2011 is the same blend as the 2013.

 

2010  La Fleur Morange                         RATING:   94+ points

 ESTIMATED COST:          $63-$99

 The more traditional cuvee, the 2010 La Fleur Morange is an equal-part blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc from a tiny, 4.5-acre parcel. This is showing better from bottle than it did from barrel. Remarkably, it has 15.5% natural alcohol, which may be the highest level of natural alcohol of any of the wines from the better estates in Bordeaux. Of course, there is not much of it, since yields were 17 hectoliters per hectare, so there are only about 200+ cases of this wine in the marketplace. Dense purple, with oodles of mulberry, black raspberry and violets, this is a beautiful wine, elegant, but at the same time massively fruity, thick, unctuously textured and long. I am sure some serious tannins

are lurking beneath in this extravagantly endowed, sumptuously textured Bordeaux. Drink this wine over the next 15+ years.

Despite the fact that both of these wines received similar scores, they are different in style.

 

2009  La Fleur Morange                         RATING: 96+ points

ESTIMATED COST:           $85-$90

 

Even more impressive is the absolutely prodigious 2009 St.-Emilion, the finest wine I have ever tasted from La Fleur Morange. The average age of the vines at this tiny estate is close to 100 years, and this 2009 blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc came from yields of 25 hectoliters per hectare. The vines sit on the famous iron-rich soils that the French call crasse de fer, and the result is an amazingly opaque purple wine with an extraordinary nose of blackberries, charcoal, graphite and crushed chalk. It is tightly knit, with full-bodied power and relatively elevated tannins. Its noble sweetness and expansiveness as well as its broad, savory finish make this is a compelling wine of great quality that should hit its stride in 4-5 years and keep for two decades. Bravo to Claude Gros!

 

2010  La Fleur Morange                        RATING :  94+ points

ESTIMATED COST:           $63-$99

The more traditional cuvee, the 2010 La Fleur Morange is an equal-part blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc from a tiny, 4.5-acre parcel. This is showing better from bottle than it did from barrel. Remarkably, it has 15.5% natural alcohol, which may be the highest level of natural alcohol of any of the wines from the better estates in Bordeaux. Of course, there is not much of it, since yields were 17 hectoliters per hectare, so there are only about 200+ cases of this wine in the marketplace. Dense purple, with oodles of mulberry, black raspberry and violets, this is a beautiful wine, elegant, but at the same time massively fruity, thick, unctuously textured and long. I am sure some serious tannins are lurking beneath in this extravagantly endowed, sumptuously textured Bordeaux. Drink this wine over the next 15+ years.

Despite the fact that both of these wines received similar scores, they are different in style.

 

2009  La Fleur Morange                         RATING :  96+ points

ESTIMATED COST:           $85-$90

Even more impressive is the absolutely prodigious 2009 St.-Emilion, the finest wine I have ever tasted from La Fleur Morange. The average age of the vines at this tiny estate is close to 100 years, and this 2009 blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc came from yields of 25 hectoliters per hectare. The vines sit on the famous iron-rich soils that the French call crasse de fer, and the result is an amazingly opaque purple wine with an extraordinary nose of blackberries, charcoal, graphite and crushed chalk. It is tightly knit, with full-bodied power and relatively elevated tannins. Its noble sweetness and expansiveness as well as its broad, savory finish make this is a compelling wine of great quality that should hit its stride in 4-5 years and keep for two decades. Bravo to Claude Gros!

 

 

 

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