Woooow! This really rolls off the palate and goes on and on, Full-bodied and so long. Sweet and sour. Cherries, currants. Orange peel. Thought-provokingly energetic. Defines youthful sophistication.
James Suckling, May 2022

It's rather difficult to capture just how different this wine is from everything else in the vintage. There is so much harmony, complexity, authenticity, layers of red and black fruit, oyster shell, wet stone, and warm earth. An array of beautifully cool, precise fruit, super polished tannins, carrying mineral notes all through the mouth. So much harmony, intensity, power and freshness. It can only be Lafleur, sadly. What a wine.
April 2022

Inky and nuanced plum in colour, deep and complex aromatics of violets and earthy tobacco, this is a serious wine with fresh acidities and a sense of clarity, purity of fruit, translucence - characteristics that are hard to capture in a solar vintage, and give something to celebrate in a cooler climate year. The density in the tannic structure is hidden, reserved, accentuating a lot of the qualities that you find in Lafleur in a normal year. Unfurls slowly, Cabernet Franc dominant with a curl of gunsmoke that whips through the palate, tomato leaf and redcurrant and only slowly widens to show a fleshier Merlot character. Harvest September 17 to October 2. No chaptilisation.
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, May 2022

The Guinaudeau family's mantra is to "never submit to the vintage," and in 2021 that meant 10 sleepless nights of frost protection and a growing season that required quick reactions to perform the necessary treatments without neglecting the other important viticultural tasks of the year. The reward is the profound 2021 Lafleur, a brilliant blend of 52% Cabernet Franc and 48% Merlot that wafts from the glass with aromas of wild berries, violets, rose petals, vine smoke and black truffle. Full-bodied, layered and seamless, it's deep and penetrating, with superb concentration and beautifully refined structuring tannins, concluding with a long, resonant finish. A monument in the making, I wouldn't be surprised to see it transcend my bracketed score when revisited in bottle.
William Kelley, April 2022

The 2021 Lafleur was picked 17 and 24 September for the Merlot and on 2 October for the Bouchets (to give Cabernet Franc its proper name in these parts). It has a very focused bouquet with dark berry fruit, crushed rock, iris flower and just a touch of blue fruit. The palate is silky smooth on the entry with a fine bead of acidity. Beautifully-balanced, conveying palpable energy, this is cool, calm and collected on the finish, brushing off the hurdles of the growing season like water off a duck's back. Baptiste and Julie Guinaudeau have conjured not just one of the finest Pomerols of 2021, but one of the finest Bordeaux wines.
Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2022

The 2021 Lafleur is a blend of 52% Cabernet Franc, harvested on 2 October, and 48% Merlot, harvested on 17 and 24 September. It prances out of the glass with carefree, showy scents of redcurrant preserves, black raspberries, and rose oil, followed by suggestions of chocolate covered cherries, crushed rocks, graphite, and tree bark. Medium-bodied, the palate has firm, very ripe, very finely grained tannins with amazing tension supporting the intense red and black fruit layers, finishing long and achingly fragrant.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, May 2022

The 2021 Lafleur is without question one of the wines of the vintage. Dense and explosive the 2021 possesses tremendous intensity in every dimension. It's a wine that really lives in its own universe. Readers lucky enough to taste it will likely be shocked by the sheer density here. Baptiste Guinaudeau reports berry sizes (typically large in 2021) were the same size as in 2015. Time brings out a heady mix of red berry fruit intermingled with floral, savory and saline accents. This deep, packed Pomerol won't be ready to drink for more than a decade.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2022

Exceptional density for the vintage. As usual restrained, although there is a floral nuance. Fruit-filled palate but with freshness and balance as well. Big tannic frame with imposing but polished tannins. Clearly the potential to age. (JL) 13.5%
Drink 2030 – 2050
Jancisrobinson.com, May 2022