A shock in Bordeaux: Château Lafleur, one of the most prestigious houses in Pomerol, is leaving the appellations and releasing all its wines as... Vin de France from vintage 2025. Yes, you read correctly: from the top to the 'lowest' category.
Text: Ingrid Larmoyeur (The Wine Institute) | Image: Markus Spitske via Pexels
According to the Guinaudeau family, owners of Château Lafleur and five associated domains including Grand Village and Les Champs Libres, appellation rules leave too little room to adapt their vineyards to accelerating climate change. Consider irrigation, protection from heat or frost by netting, planting density, or even use of other grape varieties. In AOP Bordeaux and AOP Pomerol, these are virtually unmentionable topics. Climate change, however, requires flexibility. Lafleur's motto: "We change to remain the same." They want more freedom to ensure quality for the future, and with their move they are triggering the regulatory debate.
Betrayal
Already accused of "treason", Lafleur is thus choosing freedom and creativity over tradition. In doing so, they follow other icons like Loïc Pasquet's Liber Pater in the Graves and even Angelo Gaja, who turned his back on Barolo and Barbaresco in 1996. For Bordeaux, this is a wake-up call, because if even an icon like Lafleur leaves Pomerol, how sustainable is the system?
The wine remains the same Lafleur, with the same terroir and quality, but is more future-proofed through innovation. Only the label changes.
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