1982 Lafleur

The 1982 Lafleur is probably my favorite wine of the vintage, even if there are two or three wines that can rival it in quality, simply because it made such an impression on me when I first tasted it as a student. Today, from a perfect cellar where it has been stored since release, it remains extremely youthful; but it is also much more expressive than it was only six or seven years ago, offering up a singular bouquet of kirsch, sweet berries, licorice, orange zest, exotic spices and crushed mint. Full-bodied, satiny and sensual, it combines huge concentration with rare energy, exhibiting beautifully melted tannins and concluding with a long, pure finish. If I owned any bottles, and sadly I don't, I struggle to think of any circumstances in which I would willingly part with them.

The 1982 Lafleur reappears in Hong Kong but here it is (unfairly) juxtaposed against the mortal 1986 Lafleur. Maybe the 1982 is "immortal"? This bottle is firing on all cylinders – there is no stage fright here! Intense black fruit on the nose with stunning delineation, those light gravel scents more in the background than on the bottle shown at Ten Trinity. The palate just delivers everything you could wish for in a mature Pomerol. There is that perfect acidity, astonishing symmetrical structure, the energy and panache, the insistent grip towards the finish and the otherworldly long finish. The last five words of the note I jot down at the time is "As good as it gets". Sums it up really. Tasted at lunch at Cipriani private members club in Hong Kong.

Tasted at the Pomerol Comparative Exploration tasting in London, the 1982 Lafleur is a wine that I have been fortunate to taste half-a-dozen times and it never ceases to amaze. In many ways this replicated previous encounters. It just seems to glisten so temptingly in the glass. The bouquet is incredibly intense with otherworldly black fruit, crushed mineral, iris and a very subtle marine influence, cockles, perhaps whelks. The palate is perfectly balanced with a beguiling sense of symmetry. It some ways, it possesses the same backbone as the 1975 Lafleur however, there is far more details and precision here, a tensile finish that freezes your feet to the spot. It has always been a show stopping, ethereal wine. Those that dispute the existence of perfect wines need to have tasted the 1982 Lafleur being making such statements.