2009 Pensées de Lafleur, Pomerol, Bordeaux

Château Lafleur is A tiny 4.5-hectare Pomerol property located opposite Pétrus and producing wines of comparable quality. Lafleur is owned and run by Sylvie and Jacques Guinadeau. Its vineyards are situated on the gravel-rich Pomerol plateau and adjoin those of La Fleur-Pétrus. The soils here are particularly deep and are enriched by deposits of potassium and iron. Only natural fertilisers are used and yields are painfully low, even by Pomerol standards.

With 150 or so producers and roughly 740 hectares of vineyards, the smallest of Bordeaux's major appellations is home to myriad bijou domaines – many making little more than 1,000 cases per annum. If the topography and architecture of Pomerol are typical, the style of its wines is anything but. The best vineyards are planted on a seam of rich clay extending across the raised plateau of Pomerol from the boundary of St Emilion.