Tasted at the Pomerol Comparative Exploration tasting in London, the 1995 Lafleur was broadly the same as the bottle tasted the previous year. The nose is taut at first with perhaps just a tad blue fruit than previous bottles, unfolding with those enticing gravel and meat juice aromas that lend this so much complexity. There is wondrous delineation here and like before, there is a distant scent of wild mint, perhaps fennel that emerges after 30-40 minutes. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin that have taken two decades to fully melt. There is wonderful depth, gorgeous tertiary black fruit with hints of black truffle towards prolonged finish. The 1995 is best Lafleur of the 1990s. It is as simple as that.

Robert Parker''s Wine Advocate 23/02/1998

This is an awesome Lafleur, but it is also an amazingly backward, tannic monster that will need more cellaring than any Medoc in this vintage. The wine boasts an opaque black/purple color, as well as a closed but promising nose that represents the essence of blackberry, raspberry, and cherry fruit. Intertwined with those aromas is the tell-tale mineral terroir of Lafleur, full body, blistering dry, astringent tannin, and a layered, weighty feel on the palate. This is the kind of young claret that I couldn''t wait to rush out and buy two decades ago, but now I have to be content to admire it and wish I were twenty years younger. It is formidable, prodigious, and oh, so promising, but I cannot see it being ready to drink before the end of the second decade of the next century! Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050.

Another amazingly backward, tannic Lafleur that has an opaque ruby/purple colour and a tight but promising nose of blackberry liqueur intermixed with blueberries, raspberries, and minerals, this wine is full bodied, has searingly dry, astringent tannin, but a layered, very large scaled, weighty feel in the mouth. The wine is very young, formidable, but oh so prodigious. I cannot see this wine being ready to drink for at least two decades, and it may actually need more time than the 1998. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050. (93+)

50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Franc. This vintage took a lot of time to open out and express itself.
Light to medium garnet. Sweet, rich, dusty nose that almost recalls left bank more than right. Neat and sweet and rich on the palate too. Lots of tertiary development on the nose. But then it is 22 years old! Fresh and lively. Very neat. Just the extra sweetness and the lingering opulence on the finish tells us it is right bank. Tannins still in evidence.

Took a moment to gather itself, then revved up and blew everyone away, just refusing to drop in quality even with two or three hours in the glass. So much depth and intensity, cassis and bilberry fruits, almost Left Bank in expression, layers of black truffle, bitter dark chocolate, charcoal and mocha, grip, tension, mint leaf and slate, and so much to love. Concentrated and still just getting going even at 27 years old, what a briliant example of this Pomerol icon. 50% new oak. The wine was being made by Jacques Guinaudeau at this point, but would not be fully owned by his side of the family until 2002. Drink 2022 - 2048
Tasted April 2022 - Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux