At one time a perfect wine, my three-digit score has dropped simply because I am not sure the huge tannins this wine possesses will ever fully melt away. Nevertheless, it is still one of the greatest wines I have ever tasted for its tremendous singularity and intensity. The color is still a murky plum/purple that shows a bit of amber at the edge. The nose is strikingly intense, with an almost liquid minerality intermixed with fig, truffle, spice, plum, and black cherry as well as blueberry. In the mouth the wine is massive, with searing levels of tannins, but monumental levels of extract and concentration. I would not be surprised if some of the great 1928s or 1945s tasted like this in their first 20 years of life. This wine is still very backward, yet with decanting of 6-10 hours (the normal operative procedure when opening this wine), the wine is prodigious. A 50 to 75-year wine? Anticipated maturity: 2005-2050. Last tasted, 8/02.

Saturated full red. Quintessential Lafleur nose of roasted, liqueur-like red fruits, prune, mocha, leather and menthol, along with a whiff of honey. Thick, dense and powerful, with great verve and grip. By far the driest and most austere of the four vintages, very much in the tough style of the '75 vintage. But this wine still needs another decade or so to absorb more of its huge, palate-dusting tannins. Drink 2012 through 2035.

Very luscious healthy shaded blackish ruby with brick rim. But on the nose this seems a bit faded and lacks freshness. An old lady’s boudoir – or am I being so fanciful because Michael Broadbent is sitting almost next to me? Bloody and big and fruity and powerful and lots of impact with rather furry tannins on the finish. Long and neat and gives lots of pleasure. Mint toffees on the nose and tough, chewy, grainy tannins. Tannins will not meld more, I feel. This became increasingly attractively fresh and floral on the nose as it sat in the glass (JR)