CRITIC REVIEWS
Neal Martin
Tasted at Justerini & Brooks agency tasting in London. The Château Lafleur 2000 is a monumental wine. Imagine a Harley Davidson thundering down the tarmac. Wouldnt you want to get on? It has an extremely intense, but ineffably pure nose with more mineral expression than the Lafleur 1995. It has loosened up a little since I last tasted it, but I concur with Robert Parker that if I were lucky enough to have some of these in my cellar, I would wait until 2020 to experience the wine at its plateau. Allowing the wine to open over 30 minutes, I notice an almost flinty scent developing on the bouquet. The palate is medium-bodied, crystalline and symmetrical—everything beautifully focused—almost Left Bank in texture. This had a firm backbone, but that is becoming more "flexible" in recent years, and it fans out with consummate ease on a finish that is so long that it makes "War and Peace" seem like a short read. This is simply magnificent. Tasted February 2015.
John Stimpfig
Although the Guinaudeaus are increasingly enamoured with their Cabernet Franc vines, there is clearly nothing wrong with their Merlot – which accounts for 62% of the blend in the 2000 Lafleur. Its deep in colour, with an inky black fruit nose. The palate is lush and deceptively concentrated, with layer upon layer of flavour and complexity, exhibiting a core of richly mineral blackberry and blackcurrant fruit with savoury liquorice, pencil lead and hints of truffle and balsam. The structure is generous and the tannins are fulsome and fleshy, yet it’s also lively, fresh and finely balanced, with a supremely long, confident finish. This stellar wine possesses real lift, class and presence - very complete, full of pleasure, and with a very long life ahead of it.