Les Champs Libres: Tasting & Drinking
While there are a small band of right-bank châteaux marrying Sauvignon Blanc with the region’s highly prized limestone terroirs I am not sure there are any that possess the image, reputation, public profile or track record of success that the Guinaudeau family of Château Lafleur have achieved.
Having first encountered the wine in the 2012 vintage, which was in essence a cautiously sculpted prototype (and it could be argued that every vintage up to about 2019 was also a prototype, given the recurrent experimentation with Semillon), I have been consistently impressed by the wine of Les Champs Libres.
In a world in which the top whites of Bordeaux demand higher prices than the very best from the Loire Valley, despite my belief that the top wines of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé can eclipse many of them in terms of quality and style, Les Champs Libres provides some push-back on the latter of those two statements. This is a wine which offers Bordeaux-focused fans of the region’s white wines a more chiselled, delineated and precise interpretation of Sauvignon Blanc than any you will find coming from the vineyards of Graves or Pessac-Léognan.
I also believe, having returned to a number of vintages after bottling, that this cuvée will age just as well as its Bordeaux and Loire counterparts. I raise my hat to the Guinaudeau family for having the spirit and energy to create this new cuvée. (30/10/24)
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