2019 Les Champs Libres
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Tasting notes
The 2019 Les Champs Libres, 95% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Semillon, requires a lot of swirling to bring out notes of fresh lemon peel, elderflower, and white peaches, plus suggestions of white pepper and allspice. The medium-bodied palate reveals a crisp backbone and tight-knit, chalky flavors, finishing zesty. It needs time!
Critic scores
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
More reviews and scores
The 2019 Les Champs Libres conveys composure on the nose, touches of pear, Granny Smith and menthol, fine cohesion, quite flattering at this early stage. The palate is well-balanced with a touch of reduction on the entry, fine acidity, a lot of extract here with white peach and apricot towards its toasty, sesame-tinged finish. Wonderful. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.
Tasted blind. A bit sweaty on the nose. Tight and taut on the palate. Doesn’t seem well-knit at all at this stage with some astringency on the finish. Hint of liquorice. (JR)
The Les Champs Libres 2019 Blanc wafts from the glass with notes of lime blossom, citrus zest, wet stones and pastry cream. Medium to full-bodied, taut and incisive, it's chalky and concentrated, with racy acids, lovely structuring dry extract and a long, mineral finish. It's produced from Sancerrois massal selections of Sauvignon Blanc (and now a tiny percentage of Sémillon, too) planted on deep clay soils on the slopes at Grand Village, the Guinaudeau family having sagely concluded that clay is as essential to a great white wine as limestone. Like many of this family's wines, it makes a mockery of Bordeaux's traditional hierarchy.
About the producer
The Société Civile du Ch. Lafleur is the collective name for the Guinaudeau family’s wines and estates. These are some of the Right Bank’s most famous wines, including Ch. Lafleur and Les Pensées in Pomerol, along with Les Perrières, Les Champs Libres and Ch. Grand Village in Fronsac.