Château Lafleur du Roy

The estate

Lafleur du Roy is a family holding of 4 hectares at Catusseau, in the south of Pomerol, on a slope facing southwest, 60 meters up. The ground is sandy gravel over a thick layer of alios, the iron pan the region calls crasse de fer. Yvon and Pâquerette Dubost made the estate; Yvon was mayor of Pomerol, and the family’s white Bordeaux carries her name, Château Pâquerette. Their son Laurent Dubost, trained at an agricultural school, runs it now, together with the family’s other properties, Château La Vallière in Lalande-de-Pomerol and Château Bossuet in the Bordeaux Supérieur.

The vines are 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40 to 45 years old, and the soil is worked rather than weeded with chemicals. Everything is picked by hand and fully destemmed. The wine macerates 3 weeks in stainless steel, then spends 15 months in oak, with 30% of the barrels renewed each year; it is racked every 3 months and bottled at the château, 1,600 to 2,000 cases of 12 bottles a year. From a parcel of Merlot 45 years old the family makes a Cuvée Prestige, raised 18 months in new barrels.

At a glance

Appellation

Pomerol

Commune

Pomerol, at Catusseau

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Dubost family; Laurent Dubost runs it

Vineyard

4 hectares at 60 meters, facing southwest; vines 40 to 45 years old

Ground

Sandy gravel over alios, the local iron pan

Grapes

Merlot 85%, Cabernet Franc 10%, Cabernet Sauvignon 5%

Farming

Soil worked, no chemical weeding

Cellar

Picked by hand, fully destemmed; 3 weeks in stainless steel; 15 months in oak, 30% new; bottled at the château

Production

1,600 to 2,000 cases of 12 bottles

Wines

Château Lafleur du Roy; Lafleur du Roy Cuvée Prestige, 18 months in new barrels

The house

Also Château La Vallière, Lalande-de-Pomerol; Château Bossuet, Bordeaux Supérieur; Château Pâquerette, white Bordeaux

Source: Les Châteaux Dubost, Château Lafleur du Roy