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90 Robert Parker
16 Rene Gabriel
89 Wine Spectator
As I suspected, the 1996 Lafleur is a painfully backward, austere wine that represents a modern day clone of this estate's 1966. It possesses a backward, tannic, Medoc-like character, with none of Pomerol's hallmark generosity. The wine exhibits a saturated dark purple color, as well as a distinctive mineral, black raspberry, and berry-scented nose with the steely, mineral Lafleur character well-displayed. Powerful, long, and rich, but excruciatingly tannic, this wine may or may not resolve all of its tannin. In short, it is an impressively constituted wine that is no sure thing. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2025.
Producer
Château Lafleur
Consisting of a mere 4.5-hectares of vines, with more than half, surprisingly planted to Cabernet Franc, Château Lafleur may be one of the smaller Pomerol properties, but that does not change that is certainly one of the finest. Located on the gravel-rich Pomerol Plateau, neighboring the phenomenal châteaux, Pétrus and La Fleur-Pétrus, Lafleur regularly produces comparable high-quality wines. Since its creation in 1872, Château Lafleur has stayed in the same kin-line, today, the fifth generation is represented by the Guinaudeau family, that took over estate in the mid-1980s. This single-vineyard grower-producer, due to its rather large proportion of Cabernet Franc, creates considerably structured wines that have the ability to age gracefully for two decades or more. Lafleur is their consistently impressive Grand Vin that shows the house’s signature concentrated layers of dark fruits, minerals, and liquorice, complimented by the wines overall rich opulence.