What if I told you there was a staggeringly impressive Grand Cru Bordeaux gracing the lists of world-famous restaurants and being whispered about in the back channels of the wine industry? What if this wine was produced by enlisting the service of old, organic vines from a centuries-old Bordeaux estate, and only the finest barrels were hand-selected for bottling? And what if the 2014 vintage was the very first time this mysterious Bordeaux trickled into America? That, my friends, is today’s Château La Fleur Garderose Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, an ethereal Right Bank beauty that epitomizes tradition and the unwavering classic style that earned Bordeaux its immortal fame.
There’s no denying that within just a few years’ time La Fleur Garderose has become one of the most buzzed-about wines in Bordeaux that still escapes the commoner’s eye. That hard-to-accomplish feat was made possible when Christophe, the new generation of the particularly beloved Château Belregard-Figeac clan, discreetly crafted a handmade “reserve” wine from their top real estate, funneled it into large, neutral barrels, and gave the resulting wine its own identity. Looking at the sales of the 2015 vintage we offered last year, I already know many of you will jump at the opportunity to taste this older, more refined, unmistakably classic 2014, so for all the newcomers: be quick on the draw!
When Christophe Pueyo, joined his father, Jacques, in the cellar of Château Belregard-Figeac in 2010, there was an almost immediate leap in the quality and purity of the property’s wines. Christophe pushed a complete conversion to organic farming, significantly cut back on filtering, racking, and addition of sulfites in the cellar, while gradually transitioning Belregard-Figeac’s battery of small barriques to much larger, neutral demi-muids and foudres from an elite Austrian cooperage house, Stockinger. Importer Neal Rosenthal—a man who oversees what is arguably the finest portfolio of handcrafted estate Bordeaux houses in the US—says, simply, that the Pueyo family’s wines “exhibit a purity of fruit and vibrant energy that was not present in the past.” I couldn’t agree more. These are some of the most terroir evocative and classic wines in Saint-Émilion—but the story doesn’t end there!
In 2014 Christophe released his first-ever vintage of Château La Fleur Garderose. While philosophy, farming, élevage, and real estate are more-or-less identical to that of Château Belregard-Figeac, the small cache of Garderose wines bottled each year originate from the very finest fruit from the oldest vines on the Pueyo’s estate, and, what the family considers the top barrels of finished wine. In short, Garderose is Château Belregard-Figeac’s “reserve” wine—it just doesn’t say so on the label. The irony, and, I suspect, the reason why this wine has developed such a rabid following in such a short time, is that it is not priced like a limited reserve bottling from a deeply venerated Grand Cru estate in Saint-Émilion.
In the glass, Château La Fleur Garderose never leaves any doubt about its cépage and origin: This is extremely high-grade Merlot and Cabernet Franc from five-decade-old vines planted in ancient limestone/sand/gravel soils. Silky, dark-fruited, and deeply soulful wines like this are why this same small stretch of vines between Saint-Émilion’s medieval stone walls and Libourne have been a destination for world-class wine since the first century. And I’d especially like to touch on the “soulful” aspect of this wine. With old-vine fruit, organic farming, 100% neutral barrels, and 13% finished alcohol, this wine exudes terroir purity and utter class. It stirs the deepest of emotions with blackberries, red and black currant, black cherries, tobacco leaves, forest floor, cedar, leather, crushed stones, green peppercorn, and a touch of exotic spices. It’s broad and intricately layered with a vivid core of wild fruit and pulverized Bordelais minerality. But all of its beauty must be coaxed out over time. Translation: This isn’t a pop and pour wine! The prescient collector will enjoy a bottle or two now, after a minimum 60-minute decant, but will see that the ultimate prize awaits in the next several years (I think this wine’s 10th birthday will be downright sensational). La Fleur Garderose’s 2014 red doesn’t hide behind ripeness, alcohol, new oak, or extraction—it’s all about showcasing the breathtaking purity and raw yet elegant power of Saint-Émilion Grand Cru. And that’s why it cannot be missed. Enjoy!
