2020 Château Lafleur

The 2020 Lafleur has quite a reduced nose that remains stoic even with vigorous swirling, though it offers attractive brambly red fruit and wilted rose petal scents. That probably sways me toward a lower score than I otherwise would give, because this Pomerol is notoriously backward in its youth. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid red fruit, curry leaf and black pepper notes. Quite structured on the finish, with moderate length, this feels as if it might have closed down. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

One of the wines of the vintage, but likely to prove slower evolving and more introverted than its 2019 counterpart, the 2020 Lafleur unwinds in the glass with aromas of cherries, raspberries, kirsch, black truffle, orange zest and vine smoke. Full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, it's deep and concentrated, with a tightly wound core of fruit framed by rich, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, saline finish. This is another magical bottle from an estate that just seems to do everything right.