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.

The 1996 Lafleur is not a vintage that I have seen much, although the bottom line is that in this tricky Right Bank season it is better than the disappointing Petrus. Raspberry, black truffle and leather on the rather lean nose, the palate stocky and burly if missing the refinement and precision of a great vintage. There is a sense of attractiveness to this Lafleur, but it does lack that crucial ingredient – charm. Nov 2018