Wine Advisor
Lafleur 1994
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Description
Château Lafleur is a tiny 4.5-hectare Pomerol property located opposite Pétrus and producing wines of comparable quality. Lafleur is owned and run by Sylvie and Jacques Guinadeau. Its vineyards are situated on the gravel-rich Pomerol plateau and adjoin those of La Fleur-Pétrus. The soils here are particularly deep and are enriched by deposits of potassium and iron. Only natural fertilisers are used and yields are painfully low, even by Pomerol standards. By the 1980s, Chateau Lafleur was on its way to becoming one of the world’s most in-demand wines selling for more than the First Growths. In 1975, Robert Parker made his first visit to the estate and since then never stopped writing about the wine. His comments on Chateau Lafleur excited consumers all over the world, and thus became one of those Pomerol wines that tied to the success and continuous praise heaped on the wine by Robert Parker.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
First tasted in April 2004: deep ruby/black colour. The nose is backward, masculine with layers of dusty black fruit, lead-pencil and tobacco. The palate is dense and tannic and nowhere near ready. However, unlike the 1993, I worry that it does not have sufficient fruit? Less opulent and more broody than the 93, this needs another 10 years to come round. Wait and see. Tasted again in September 2004.with a similar note at the Lafleur vertical. A backward nose of tobacco, black truffle and lead-pencil. Good definition though it lacks some depth. The palate if firm, quite plummy and very tannic. Earthy. Very tough wine that lacks the fruit to back up the tannins. The 1993 is better balanced. Approach with caution.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
For readers with 10-15 years of patience, this exceptionally concentrated, massive, tannic, backward, opaque purple-colored Lafleur offers considerable promise. The provocative nose of licorice, violets, black-raspberry, and truffle-like fruit is followed by a huge, tannic, forbiddingly backward, super-concentrated wine that should be purchased only by those willing to wait until the end of the first decade of the next century. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2030.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Medium-deep garnet color going brick at the rim. A somewhat unpleasant mushroom character dominated the nose to begin but dissipated with air / time.This gave way to more interesting notes of leather, truffles, prunes, forest floor and a vague whiff of tomato leaf. This was generally a very well structured wine with medium+ acidity and a medium+ level of velvety tannins. Yet I was slightly, only slightly, disappointed with the fruit, which is already starting to dry-out. Long finish. Drink now – 2018. Tasted November 2008.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
So what's new? Lafleur's 1994 is a black/purple-colored, tannic monster effort for the vintage, with huge power, great purity and sweetness of black-cherry and raspberry fruit, full body, copious amounts of extract, and a Medoc-like firmness and structure. It is a large-scaled, extremely rich, super-concentrated Lafleur that will require 8-10 years of cellaring; it will last for 30-35 years. It, along with Latour, may turn out to be the longest-lived wines of the vintage. All of the wines in this segment were tasted between March 19 and March 28 in Bordeaux. Most of the important wines from both the 1994 and 1995 vintages were tasted three separate times during my ten-day stay in Bordeaux.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Once again this property has turned out an extremely backward, pure, highly structured, superbly concentrated wine that will require a decade of patience. The wine reveals a dark ruby/purple color, and wonderfully pure scents of jammy black-cherries, plums, and truffles. Sweet and long, with formidably high tannin, this massive, full-bodied wine is a candidate for 25-35 years of cellaring. This is another opulent, super-concentrated Lafleur, but it possesses a more austere side than other vintages such as 1990, 1989, 1985, 1983, and 1982.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at John Armit’s Lafleur dinner. A deep garnet core. The nose is very tight, stoic and frustratingly refuses to uncoil despite an hour in its presence. Cut me some slack Lafleur ’94! There is a sharp mossy, stemmy element that refuses to dissipate and if anything, intensifies as if to spite you! The palate is very tannic, well balanced, masculine and a little bit mean, most “root-sy” than “earthy”. This is an uncompromising Chateau Lafleur where the Cabernet Franc is more Loire- than Pomerol-like in terms of its texture and pepperiness. The 1994 is for Lafleur-lovers only…maybe it needs another 2-3 years? Drink now-2018+ Tasted April 2010.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Still backward, but one of the great successes of the vintage, the 1994 still has a deep ruby/purple color, notes of plums, a hint of prunes, earth, truffle, and mineral. As the wine sits in the glass, some of the steely mineral Lafleur character emerges. This remains an excruciatingly tannic, backward, medium to full-bodied wine that needs plenty of cellaring. I am not so sure the tannins will always mesh, given the fact that this wine does not quite have the concentration that some of the other top vintages of Lafleur possess. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025. Last tasted, 12/02.
About the Producer
In 2002, the Gwinoders completely acquired Lafleur, becoming the sole owner of Lafleur, and have been operating it ever since. Huabao now has 4.5 hectares of vineyards. The soil types in the garden are diverse, including gravel, clay and gravel. Generally speaking, these soils are relatively poor and very suitable for grape planting. Among the grape varieties planted in the vineyard, Merlot (Merlot) and Cabernet Franc (Cabernet Franc) are equally divided, each accounting for 50%, the planting density is 6,000-7,500 plants/ha, and the average tree age is 30 years.
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