True to form in this tasting, the 1975 Lafleur is even younger, denser, more powerful, and, yes, more concentrated than the 1975 Petrus. Lafleur possesses a mind-boggling inner-core of highly-extracted fruit, something that was not achieved in such great Lafleurs as 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989, and 1990. Still extremely tannic, with an opaque purple/black/garnet color, the wine exhibits a huge nose of jammy black fruits, earth, minerals, and spice. Massively proportioned, with a boat-load of tannin to shed, this is a wine for the 21st century. This monumental wine may behave like some of the great 1928s. If you own large stocks of the 1975 Lafleur, open a bottle and decant it for about 4-6 hours before drinking. However, if you only have a few bottles in your cellar, I recommend holding them until at least the turn of the century. This is another 50-75 year wine from an irregular, perplexing, yet sometimes exhilarating vintage.

The notes for this wine are taken from the description of Series I of the 1995 tasting conducted in Munich by Helga and Hardy Rodenstock. Many years after the tasting from which this note derives allegations were made concerning the authenticity of old and rare bottles of wine sold by Hardy Rodenstock to collectors around the world. The matter has been the subject of numerous articles, litigation and at least one book. Mr. Parker believes that the wines served to him at this tasting were authentic so this note and the others from that specific tasting continue to be posted on eRobertParker.com.

Robert Parker | 100 RP

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(Château Lafleur) I had only previously tasted the 1975 Lafleur on one occasion (a solid decade ago) and I was quite surprised to revisit this wine and not witness one iota of further development than the bottle I tasted all those years ago. I imagine that original owners of 1928 Latour might have had similar experiences. The 1975 Lafleur is clearly one of the biggest and most concentrated bottles of Bordeaux that I have ever tasted, harkening back to the mammoth wines made in the Pomerol region in the late 1940s and 1950s. Potentially, the 1975 is one of the legendary Lafleurs, but the wine remains pretty closed and monolithic at age twenty-six, reluctantly yielding up scents of dark chocolate, black cherries, hints of Lafleur’s exotic fruitcake aromatics, tobacco, a bit of roasted venison, woodsmoke and tarry earth tones. On the palate the wine is huge and black fruity, with a massive core of fruit still tightly reigned in behind old style acidity. The finish is long, powerful and moderately tannic, but this is a timeless legend that will age forever on its firm acid spine. Perhaps another decade will witness this wine blossoming a bit, but I would not bet the farm on it. (Drink between 2010-2050)

John Gilman | 95+ JG

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Saturated full red. Quintessential Lafleur nose of roasted, liqueur-like red fruits, prune, mocha, leather and menthol, along with a whiff of honey. Thick, dense and powerful, with great verve and grip. By far the driest and most austere of the four vintages, very much in the tough style of the '75 vintage. But this wine still needs another decade or so to absorb more of its huge, palate-dusting tannins. Drink 2012 through 2035.

Vinous Media | 95+ VM

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