Blackcurrant and black cherry nuances on the nose, smells aromatic but delicate. Strong and intense straight away, you can feel the power here, but it’s cloaked in silk. Smooth and shiny, this is giving confidence and brightness with tang and bite, Gorgeous succulence and crunch but pure too. There’s no sun so you get layers of pixelation and nuance of flavour, hints of spice, coolness, tang and acidity. Taught and tense, strict almost, but you can feel the beginnings of it start to soften. A delicious, pure and straight wine that will be a beauty.

Aromas of rose petals, raspberries, plums and musk introduce the 2021 Pensées de Lafleur, a medium to full-bodied, seamless and enveloping wine that's deep and sensual, it's ripe tannins entirely concealed in an ample core of succulent, pungently perfumed fruit. As I've written before, this cuvée derives from vines growing in the part of Lafleur's vineyard through which a water course once flowed and where the soils are richer in clay and better hydrated. It's a blend of 59% Merlot and 41% Cabernet Franc; this bottling hasn't really been a "second wine" since the late 1990s—but the market doesn't seem to have caught on.
William Kelley, April 2022

Aromas of raspberries, mulberries, iris and rose petals introduce the 2021 Pensées de Lafleur, a medium to full-bodied, supple and suave wine that's polished, pure and velvety, its sweet core of fruit built around lively acids and ultra-refined tannins, concluding with a long, precise finish.

Stunning stuff, the 2021 Château Lafleur Les Pensées has the classic Pomerol sexiness and opulence that defines the vintage. Redcurrants, ripe red fruit, spice, chocolate, and a beautiful sense of minerality and earth all define the aromatics, and it's medium-bodied, with round, supple tannins, beautiful purity, and a gorgeous finish. It's the second wine of this estate but as good as just about every Grand Vin out there.

Fabulous pure wild raspberry nose, crushed strawberry and ripe plum. Intoxicating. So fluid, beautiful texture, fabulous intensity and concentration. Very fine, polished tannins, great freshness. Just so impressive.
April 2022

This has weight and volume through the mid palate, with blackberry and cassis fruits as it opens. Less joyous and generous than in recent years, the finish is closer to a classic Lafleur, in that it has clarity, salinity and sinew, and as it builds through the palate you get clear tannins. Great quality, a little atypical but one to look out for. No chaptilisation. Harvest September 28 to October 2. Merlot-dominant on clay-sand-gravel, classic Pomerol terroir.
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, May 2022

Unusually welcoming for a 2021, with red roses and peony aromatics. It has connected more squarely with its usual character after ageing, and is now showing the supple and enticing tannins of the château, with an expansion through the mid palate. Red cherry, pomegranta and blackberry fruit, with earth, iron, pomegranate, slate and lemongrass. No chaptilisation. Harvest September 28 to October 2. Merlot-dominant on clay-sand-gravel, classic Pomerol terroir.

The 2021 Les Pensées, from the tongue of clay in the gravel Lafleur vineyard, was picked on 28 September and 2 October. It has a wonderful bouquet with pure brambly red fruit, light graphite scents and just a touch of the estuary. The palate is beautifully proportioned with fine tannins, quite structured and saline, very mineral-driven and as fresh as a daisy towards the finish. Excellent.
Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2022

The 2021 Les Pensées de Lafleur is quite floral and lifted, with lovely aromatic presence, fine balance and plenty of charm. Crushed flowers, sweet red berry fruit and blood orange lend brightness, with intense saline accents from the Bouchet (Cabernet Franc) that come through on the finish. Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2022

Less density than some years but has the structure to age. Floral notes on the nose with a sweetness and volume of fruit on the palate. Tightens and drives on the finish. (JL) 13.5%
Drink 2028 – 2040
Jancisrobinson.com, May 2022