2016 Chateau Lafleur, Pomerol

Antonio Galloni 99

The 2016 Lafleur is an eternal, complete wine in which everything just seems to fall into place naturally. Creamy and voluptuous in the glass, with exceptional balance, the 2016 possesses superb textural intensity allied to soaring aromatics. Strong Cabernet Franc signatures give the wine brilliante and layers of saline-infused energy. Rose petal, mint, crushed flowers and dark red fruits abound, but it is the wine’s total sense of completeness that is most astounding today. "I have to say, 2016 came totally out of the blue," Baptiste Guinadeau commented. "In 2010 and 2015 we had a pretty good idea of the kind of wines we were going to make during the growing season but in 2016 we really had no clue until harvest approached. It was only then that we started to get a sense of how the wines might turn out." [Antonio Galloni, 18/01/2019]

Anticipated maturity: 2026-2066

Neal Martin 97

The 2016 Lafleur has a very cohesive, succinct and mineral-driven bouquet with pure black fruit, tar and tobacco scents emerging with time. Impressive intensity and sense of control. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, perfect line of acidity, silky texture, with a tingle of white pepper towards the finish. Real sustain, real class. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting. [Neal Martin, 21/04/2026]

Anticipated maturity: 2030-2055

Wine Advocate 99

The 2016 Lafleur is blended of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot grown mainly on gravel over clay. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the nose begins by slowly releasing gorgeous, beguiling scents of truffles, black soil, crushed rocks and smoked meats, giving way to a beautiful perfume of red roses, dark chocolate-covered cherries, oolong tea and lavender with wafts of cigar box and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is completely coated with taut, tightly wound yet ethereally weighted layers of earth, mineral and perfumed black fruits, firmly fixed by very fine-grained tannins and great freshness, finishing very long and incredibly fragrant. [Lisa Perrotti-Brown, 30/11/2018]

Anticipated maturity: 2025-2068