2021, Château Lafleur, AOC POMEROL

Bordeaux Blend: Cabernet Franc, Merlot.

Founded by Henri Greloud in 1872, and derived each year from the same small parcel called simply “Lafleur” on the plateau of Pomerol. Château Lafleur is a rare and mythical wine, associating in a singular way power and finesse.

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. 96-98 Neal Martin.

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. 97 Jane Anson.

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, savoury and saline accents. This deep, packed Pomerol won't be ready to drink for more than a decade. 95-97 Antonio Galloni.

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. 96-98 William Kelley, Wine Advocate.