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Tasting notes
The 1978 Lafleur is a vintage that I have been fortunate to taste several times. This was a great showing for what transpired to be the penultimate great Lafleur during the era of the Robin sisters (their final great Lafleur, the 1979.) It has a very well defined nose with impressive fruit concentration considering both its age and growing season. There are lovely inky black fruits in situ , almost floral in style, pressed iris and violet that gain intensity with every swirl of the glass and subsequently developing ferrous, tertiary notes. The palate is extremely well balanced with a sweet core of black fruit so uncommon in 1978. I find a wonderful edginess to this Lafleur, fresh from start to finish. Veins of black truffle and graphite towards the end that becomes Burgundian in texture after 30 to 40 minutes in the glass. It is just a magnificent wine, heads above anything else in this vintage. Tasted at the “Business and Wine” Lafleur dinner at Ten Trinity.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
Dep dark ruby with a mature rim. Finer, sleeker, less opulent nose than the 1979. Very well mannered and fresh and lively. Tannins less obvious than in the 1979. More compact and less flashy than the 1979. Very racy and refreshing. Neat, with Cabernet Franc in the ascendant. A very attractive wine for current drinking with nothing in excess. Still very vibrant and fruity – surprisingly so for most 1978s have had a note of decay for some time. Very pretty indeed. Very refreshing and neat. (JR)
More and more the 1978 Lafleur is looking like one of the two or three finest wines of the vintage, along with La Mission-Haut-Brion and Latour. This dark plum/garnet-colored wine exhibits a knock-out nose of black cherry fruit intermixed with licorice, minerals, cedar, and spice. Medium to full-bodied, with powerful tannin remaining, this highly extracted wine is atypical for the 1978 vintage. It is a weighty, broad-shouldered, muscular, virile 1978 that is just beginning to reveal secondary nuances and complexity. I have always thought this wine could develop along the lines of the 1966, and I am more convinced than ever that it is the seventies clone of that vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2020. Last tasted 11/97
More and more the 1978 Lafleur is looking like one of the two or three finest wines of the vintage, along with La Mission-Haut-Brion and Latour. This dark plum/garnet-colored wine exhibits a knock-out nose of black cherry fruit intermixed with licorice, minerals, cedar, and spice. Medium to full-bodied, with powerful tannin remaining, this highly extracted wine is atypical for the 1978 vintage. It is a weighty, broad-shouldered, muscular, virile 1978 that is just beginning to reveal secondary nuances and complexity. I have always thought this wine could develop along the lines of the 1966, and I am more convinced than ever that it is the seventies clone of that vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2020. Last tasted 11/97 Jan 1998, www.robertparker.com
About the producer
The Société Civile du Ch. Lafleur is the collective name for the Guinaudeau family’s wines and estates. These are some of the Right Bank’s most famous wines, including Ch. Lafleur and Les Pensées in Pomerol, along with Les Perrières, Les Champs Libres and Ch. Grand Village in Fronsac.