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This bottle of 1971 Petrus is perhaps the best that I have encountered, completely overawing the 1970 served alongside. It boasts a gorgeous bouquet with delineated red berry fruit, pressed rose petals, hints of kirsch and a touch of sandalwood, perhaps even a little exotic compared to previous bottles. The palate is medium-bodied with seductive fleshiness on the entry, a surfeit of black truffle infused red fruit and life-affirming purity. Unlike other bottles, this example seems to meliorate with aeration, gaining intensity and depth towards the precise and tender finish. I doubt that I will find another 1971 Petrus as good as this. Tasted at the Petrus dinner at Hide restaurant in London.Vinous Media | 97 VMThis wine has been seemingly fully mature since the mid- to late seventies. It is a seductive, opulent vintage for Petrus. The color now is a dark garnet with considerable amber at the rim. The incredible nose of Christmas fruitcake intermixed with mocha, jammy kirsch, and black currants is followed by a silky textured, full-bodied, very opulent wine that is still totally intact. The tannins have totally dissipated, and the wine is an unctuous, seductive Petrus that is certainly one of the vintages that is most delicious and compelling. A sensational wine and probably the wine of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: Now-2011. Last tasted, 11/02.Robert Parker | 95 RPThis wine is as comfortable as your favorite pair of slippers. Extremely caressing, with wonderfully enticing aromas and flavors of tobacco and violets and a rich, round palate.--Pétrus vertical. Drink now.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

What you'd expect from such a legendary estate. Wonderful palate impression with silky, rich fruit. Plenty of blackberry and chocolate character, has a full body and medium finish. Needs time. Try after 1997.--The Bordeaux 50.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

Subtle yet rich aromas of grilled meat, black olive and dark red fruits. Full-bodied, very soft and silky, with ultrarefined tannins. The finish lasts for minutes. The quality of the tannins is beautiful and the complexity of fruit, earth and spices is impressive. Drinking this is like listening to Mozart.--’88/’98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Drink now. 3,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThis wine has become increasingly herbaceous with the tannins pushing through the fruit and becoming more aggressive. The wine started off life impressively deep ruby/purple but is now showing some amber at the edge. It is a medium-bodied, rather elegant style of Petrus with a distinctive cedary, almost celery component intermixed with a hint of caramel and sweet mulberry and black cherry fruit. It has aged far less evenly than I would have thought and is probably best drunk over the next 8-10 years. Last tasted, 11/02.Robert Parker | 91 RPThe 1988 Petrus is a vintage that I have encountered in two occasions. It is a forerunner for the 1989 and 1990 and frankly, it cannot hold a torch to those twin titans. In retrospect, one can see it more as a small progression from the capable 1987. It has a youthful hue with less bricking on the rim than you would expect. The bouquet is well defined with autumn leaves and thyme aromas filtering through the red berry fruit, perhaps a little austere but attractive in its own modest way. The plate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled tannins, conservative and clearly not a flamboyant Petrus, though balanced with a discrete sense of breeding towards the finish. There is no need to cellar bottles for longer although it should remain at this level for another decade. Tasted at the Petrus dinner at Hide restaurant in London.Vinous Media | 90 VM

This wine goes from strength to strength, and is developing even better than I initially expected. More backward than most of the big, Cabernet Sauvignon-based 1990 Medocs, it is full-bodied and viscous, but not as thick or oily as the 1982 can be. The 1990’s fresh, pure black raspberry, incense, and minerality characteristics result in a young, legendary wine. Still deep ruby/purple to the rim as well as extraordinarily intense, it is 4-10 years away from full maturity, and should evolve for another 30+ years. It is an amazing achievement!Robert Parker | 97+ RPThe 1990 Lafleur was similar to the bottle shown at the Lafleur/Petrus/Le Pin dinner. It is a vintage that I used to adore and in many ways, still do. However as I remarked during this vertical, it is one of the few vintages where the character of the growing season is translated over the signature terroir of Lafleur. Nevertheless, the nose is fresher and more vital than the previous bottle with glossy black fruit laced with undergrowth scents, this particular example exhibiting a light star anise aroma that intensifies with aeration. The palate is full-bodied with supple ripe tannin, layers of rich black fruit, powerful and voluminous. I feel that the Merlot is more expressive than the Cabernet Franc: smooth and sexy in texture, moderate acidity and glycerin towards the lush finish. It is a gorgeous Pomerol to drink, offering more sensory joy than intellectual stimulation. Hey, but sometimes that is exactly what you want. Tasted at the “International Wine & Business” Lafleur dinner at Ten Trinity, London.Vinous Media | 94 VMStill very closed, but big and rustic. Medium-red color. Aromas of meat, tobacco and fruit. Full-bodied, very chewy; mouthpuckering. Needs time.--1990 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2005. 1,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

The 1990 Petrus remains incredibly young, one of the least evolved wines of the vintage (along with Montrose and Beausejour-Duffau). This dense ruby/purple-colored effort is beginning to hint at the massive richness and full-bodied intensity lurking beneath its wall of tannin. The vintage’s sweetness, low acidity, and velvety tannins are present in abundance, and the wine is massive in the mouth as well as incredibly pure and well-delineated. I thought it would be drinkable by now, but it appears another 5-10 years will pass before it begins to reach its plateau of maturity. This wine is capable of lasting at least four more decades. An incredible achievement! Release price: ($5000.00/case)Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPThis is a legendary Petrus that I have scored 100 points in the past. Today, it’s still showing its greatness with aromas of dark fruit, black olives, hot stones and wet concrete. It’s full-to medium-bodied and shows medium, velvety tannins that give the wine backbone and composure. It’s always changing in the glass, giving fruit and earth undertones all the while. A vibrant and vivid wine that talks to you.James Suckling | 99 JSThat hasn’t changed. A classy wine that’s almost as great as the awesome ’89. Expressive and sophisticated, with wonderful ripe fruit and vanilla aromas. The palate is extremely silky with superb flavor concentration. It’s very muscular but refined and toned. Still too young to open.--Pétrus non-blind vertical. Best after 2007. 3,700 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSThe 1990 Petrus is a fabulous wine even if I have found more bottle variation than the 1989. This is incontrovertibly a great bottle, better than the one poured at the "Pomerol Comparative Tasting". It has a sensual and heartwarming bouquet of mulberry, raspberry, autumn leaves, wild heather and a touch of roasted chestnut. There is something animally about this Petrus that you might ascribe to brettanomyces but in this case it is just the character of the secondary aromas. The palate is rounded and smooth. Supple and languorous, there are layers of red fruit infused with sage, thyme and black tea. The 1990 is extraordinarily persistent, a crescendo that dares to show up the imperious 1989 that is more linear and “correct” by comparison. The 1989 might be a better Petrus, however, you could argue that the 1990 is simply more enjoyable. Tasted at the Petrus dinner at the Épure restaurant in Hong Kong.Vinous Media | 97 VM

Saturated ruby-red. Brilliant nose features kirsch, dark berries, and iron scents, with an overlay of perfumed, spicy oak. Lush, sweet and fragrant in the mouth, with a sappy freshness; clearly made from low yields. Finishes with toothcoating but suave tannins and remarkable persistence; stains the palate with spicy bitter cherry and citric skin flavor. As with the ’94, clearly the best wine in the Moueix portfolio on this day.Vinous Media | 93-96 VMAfter several uninspiring efforts between 1978 and 1988, it is irrefutable that Christian Moueix and his flagship estate, Petrus, have rebounded with a vengeance, producing a bevy of extraordinary wines, even in rain-plagued vintages such as 1992 and 1993. Opaque purple/black in color, with a sweet vanilla, pain grillee, jammy cherry and cassis-scented nose, this full-bodied, densely packed wine reveals layers of flavor, and an inner-core of sweetness with huge quantities of glycerin and depth. A tannic, classic style of Petrus, with immense body, great purity, and a backward finish, this wine requires a decade of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2035.Robert Parker | 93 RPWonderfully rich and concentrated, with milk chocolate, berry and floral aromas, loads of fruit flavors and soft, round tannins. Full-bodied and has good length. A great wine for the vintage, but then, what do you expect from Pétrus? Better from 1999 on, but inviting now. 3,200 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

Wild aromas of crushed fruit, forest flower and wild mushrooms. Full-bodied, with incredibly velvety tannins that go on and on. Lovely and exciting fruit. Gorgeous, seductive wine. Hard to resist now. Better than I remember.--’95/’96 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2007.Wine Spectator | 94 WSProprietor Christian Moueix’s 1996s have turned out well in the bottle. The 1996 Petrus is a big, monolithic, foursquare wine with an impressively opaque purple color, and sweet berry fruit intermixed with earth, pain grille, and coffee scents. Full-bodied and muscular, with high levels of tannin, and a backward style, this wine (less than 50% of the production was bottled as Petrus) will require patience. It is a mammoth example. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2035Robert Parker | 92 RP

The velvety texture is clear even on the nose, with truffle and chocolate shavings giving a mouthwatering opener. This is a lighter-framed Petrus than the 1998 but still one that pulses with intensity and complexity of expression. The tannins are finely boned, gently laid out to cushion the olive paste, plum and blackberry fruit, and it shows no sign of slowing down at 21 years old. Jean-Claude Berrouet remembers that the vintage needed more vigilance in the cellar than the 1998, with the need to resist over-extraction that would artificially fill in any gaps, and the result is a balanced and lyrical wine. A vintage that shows the virtue of clay, and the virtue of Pomerol, in that its wines ripened earlier and were therefore not affected when the weather turned rainy later in September (harvest here was September 15, 16, 17 after what had been an early-ripening year overall). 50% new oak. Drinking Window 2020 - 2030.Decanter | 95 DECThis wine is turning out much in the style of such wonderful Petrus vintages as 1967 and 1971. Although not as outstanding as either the 1998 or 2000, it displays beautiful intensity and finesse in a more evolved style than one normally expects from this estate. The wine has a dense, nearly opaque ruby/purple color, sweet black cherry, mulberry, truffle-infused fruit, full body, low acidity, admirable purity, and sweet tannin. It should be ready to drink in 5-6 years, and will last for two decades. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2030. Only 2,400 cases were produced.Robert Parker | 94 RPThe 1999 Petrus was made by Jean-Claude Berrouet (his son Olivier was training at Haut-Brion at the time) and harvest was in early September. This has the best aromatics of any Pomerol that I have tasted alongside Lafleur, featuring lovely red berry fruit and black truffle, almost Burgundian in style and beautifully defined. The palate is medium-bodied with plenty of freshness and definition, touches of black truffle and sage infusing the red fruit. Perhaps the limitations of the growing season impinge upon the finish, which feels a little conservative in style, but this still ranks among the better Pomerols of the vintage. “Fine and delicate,” Oliver Berrouet remarked during the tasting, and I concur. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the estate.Vinous Media | 92 VMA pretty, fruity red with beautiful tobacco, berry and cedar. Medium-bodied, with good soft tannins and a pretty finish.--Pétrus non-blind vertical. Drink now. 2,080 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

A prodigious Petrus, this wine has that extra level of intensity and complexity that is monumental. The magic is clearly Petrus, and the 2000 will always be an interesting vintage to compare to another legend in the making, the 1998, or more recently, of course, the 2005, 2008, and 2009. Extremely full-bodied, with great fruit purity, an unmistakable note of underbrush, black truffle, intense black cherries, licorice, and mulberry, the wine seems to show no evidence of oak whatsoever. It has a sumptuous, unctuous texture, plenty of tannin, but also vibrancy and brightness. This is a remarkable wine that seems slightly more structured and massive than the 1998, which comes across as slightly more seamless, as if it were haute couture. This wine needs at least another 5-10 years of cellaring and should age for 50+ years.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe 2000 Petrus was served blind as an extra in an already formidable line-up. Deep, inky in hue, it has an intense nose of black and red fruit laced with pencil shavings and black truffle, the latter more prominently featured vis-à-vis previous bottles. The palate is medium-bodied, one of the most youthful examples that I have encountered, perhaps more masculine. Superb backbone here, grippy with that broody finish it exhibited a couple of years back. What you might call a "slow burner". Tasted at Epure restaurant in Hong Kong (again).Vinous Media | 98 VMThis has a pretty jam-packed core of blackberry, plum and boysenberry confiture notes inlaid with ample charcoal-edged tannins and carrying through a robustly tobacco-coated finish. But even with that density and power, there is a really beguiling backdrop of incense and black tea flavors waiting to emerge further. It’s all there, but this seems a touch more backward than the rest of the field, so hold on here.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2035. 2,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSConcentrated plum colour, medium-full intensity and star bright. Powerfully complex aromatically with waves of dark berry fruits - blackberry, black cherry and bilberry. Still fairly young in expression, although it slowly unrolls to show campfire smoke and liquorice notes. With time in the glass, a more animal, liquorice bud note arrives, and the retro olfaction brings waves of violets. Exceptionally good quality and nuanced, finishing with black pepper and a hit of spice alongside black chocolate shavings. The tannic structure remains muscular and closed, suggesting this is just at the beginning of its drinking window and will age for many decades to come. From previous experience of this wine, this particular bottle seems entirely in keeping with a Petrus 2000 and is a beautiful example of this particular vintage and estate. Tasted as part of the Space Cargo Unlimited experiment, this bottle remained on earth while another sample was tasted that had returned from space. Drinking Window 2021 - 2050.Decanter | 98 DECWhile the first impression with Pétrus is the wood, it is the fruit which gradually shows itself. It is extraordinary, this dense fruit, which simultaneously manages to float with elegance. There is layer after layer of fruit, sometime black, sometimes smoky, sometimes spicy. The wine is not yet totally integrated, still intensely young, with decades to go. But what a development it will be Wine Enthusiast | 98 WENo written review provided. | 94 W&SA delicious nose of black olives, brown sugar, and sliced plums. Full bodied but shy, with a dense palate and soft and silky tannins. Flavors of milk chocolate, plums, and light vanilla bean come through. This is so good now, but wait three to four years to really see it shine. Find the wineJames Suckling | 93 JS

No written review provided. | 98 W&SThe 2001 Petrus has always been winemaker Jean-Claude Berrouet’s favourite vintages. It has developed a truly exquisite bouquet that is both svelte and sensual without any sense of being overbearing. It is almost unaware of its beauty. It gradually opens with tinctures of dried blood merging with ebullient and disarmingly pure red fruit with brilliant delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly grainy tannin, quite forceful red fruit gripping the senses and then letting go, allowing a subtle savory/cooked meat note to flourish towards the finish. Maybe this bottle was a touch more foursquare than previous ones that I have encountered although that will melt away with time. Tasted at the Petrus dinner at the Épure restaurant in Hong Kong.Vinous Media | 97 VMThere’s not many 2001s I know of that will compete with the 2001 Chateau Petrus. Still youthfully ruby in color, it offers an incredibly complex perfume of blackcurrants, forest floor, white truffles and Asian spices. These give way to a full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, opulent, hedonistic, yet also elegant 2001 that has loads of sweet tannin, beautiful mid-palate depth, and a great, great finish. Drink it anytime over the coming 2-3 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe 2001 Petrus (2,160 cases produced) exhibits more depth and richness than any other Pomerol I tasted. Its deep saturated ruby/plum/purple color is accompanied by a tight but promising bouquet of vanilla, cherry liqueur, melted licorice, black currants, and notions of truffles and earth. Rich, full-bodied, and surprisingly thick as well as intense, there is plenty of structure underlying the wealth of fruit and extract. Give it 3-6 years of cellaring, and drink it over the following two decades as it promises to be one of the longest-lived wines of the vintage, not to mention one of the most concentrated.Robert Parker | 95 RPThis is very youthful, almost like a barrel sample. Some might say it is still in a dumb stage, yet there’s plenty of body and richness, with blackberry and toasted oak character, verging on coffee. Very long. A beauty.--Pétrus non-blind vertical. Best after 2007. 2,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

Gorgeous subtle aromas of crushed raspberries and light vanilla, with hints of spices. Medium- to full-bodied, with wonderfully seductive, silky tannins. Beautiful slinky finish. Pétrus is very fine indeed in this vintage. Not overdone, all in the right place. Best after 2009. 1,665 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThe 2002 Petrus is poured from magnum but even the larger format does not quite elevate what is essentially a rather ordinary Pomerol, at least by this cru’s standards. It has a pleasant, well-defined nose that is just missing the complexity and “je ne sais quoi” of other vintages. The palate is balanced with plenty of dusky red fruit laced with cedar and tobacco, just a little tapering towards the finish with modest length. It is a perfectly decent Petrus, although it just leaves you wanting more. Tasted at the Petrus dinner at the Épure restaurant in Hong Kong.Vinous Media | 91 VMA relatively strong effort for this vintage, but hardly one of the profound examples of Petrus, this wine exhibits a dark plum color and a somewhat monolithic, foursquare personality with notes of plums, black cherries, licorice, and some herbs and damp earth. Medium-bodied, muscular, and tannic, but lacking some charm and sweetness, it should age nicely for 12-15 more years and possibly be even better than my score. Readers who buy it should not even attempt opening a bottle for at least 4-5 years.Robert Parker | 90 RP

(Château Lafleur) The 2008 Lafleur is an absolute classic in the making and likely to be ranked as one of the great vintages at this estate from the first decade of the new millennium. The bouquet is deep, pure and youthfully reticent, as it offers up a complex mélange of black cherries, red currants, coffee, a very strong and complex base of soil, nutskins, cigar wrapper and a deft framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very, very soil-driven, with a rock solid core of fruit, ripe tannins, very fine acidity and excellent focus and grip on the very long and well-balanced finish. A classic Lafleur and a magically beautiful bottle of wine. (Drink between 2022-2060).John Gilman | 96 JGTasted with Baptiste Guinaudeau, the 2008 Lafleur is a wine for which I have a lot of time, and as it approaches a decade old, it is beginning to loosen up a little. There is plenty of fruit on the nose—more than I have encountered on previous bottles, with a mixture of red and black fruit—and a hint of bell pepper and sage. The main difference is that those previously rigid tannin have loosened their collar in recent months; therefore, this Lafleur is now entertaining the notion of drinkability. There remains a linearity to this Lafleur—and there is still that backbone—yet it seems to flow nicely across the mouth, and there is superb mineralité on the finish. It's probably destined to be overshadowed by the succeeding two vintages, but I suggest you do not overlook the 2008 Lafleur.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 96 RP-NMThe 2008 Lafleur is a wine that I have tasted several times. It mirrored my previous encounters. There is still impressive fruit concentration on the nose, equally distributed between red and black, a hint of clove and just a touch of Italian delicatessen emanating from the Cabernet Franc. The palate has just melted a little since its obdurate infancy, although it is still quite linear and "strict". You might argue that the 2008 Lafleur is a little charmless at the moment, but bottle age will sculpt and abrade this Pomerol into a very fine, if slightly aloof wine. (This was not shown at BI Wine & Spirit’s horizontal but a bottle was opened at a private dinner when I was in Bordeaux a few days earlier).Vinous Media | 96 VMA bright, fresh, very pure style, with raspberry and bitter cherry fruit flavors laced with judicious toast and a streak of red licorice. The nicely fleshy finish puts on weight as it airs in the glass, developing alluring notes of black tea and incense. Drink now through 2019.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

This is a crazy nose of tangerines and blueberries, with raspberries and mushroom and berries. Full-bodied, with ultra fine tannins. This wine is all about texture, with phenomenal tannins and subtle fruits that just make you think. Evocative. It is layered, yet changes all the time. I can’t believe it really. Speechless. Amazes me. Try in 2020.James Suckling | 100 JSAn absolutely prodigious blend of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot, the 2009 Lafleur displays the tell-tale characteristics of this great estate. Kirsch liqueur, licorice and floral notes are intermixed with raspberry in a very full-bodied, super-intense, opulent and multi-dimensional style. Extraordinarily dense and pure, but not heavy by any means, the intensity, texture, and richness of the 2009 Lafleur are reminiscent of the perfect 1982. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2040.Robert Parker | 99 RPThe 2009 Lafleur (55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot) is an incredible wine in the vintage, not due to its concentration or richness, but due to its purity, finesse, and elegance! Revealing a deep ruby/purple color and perfumed notes of black raspberries, violets, forest floor, and spring flowers, this seamless Pomerol hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, multi-dimensional, weightless texture, and ultra-fine tannin. With perfectly integrated oak, a perfumed, complex style, and no hard edges, it’s as sexy and seamless as it gets. If this wine doesn’t put a smile on your face, I can’t imagine what would. It’s already impossible to resist (it blossoms with time in the glass) but I suspect it will cruise in the cellar for another 2-3 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDThe 2009 Lafleur is intense on the nose with darker fruit than the 2009 Ausone: freshly tilled earth, touches of pressed rose petals and a subtle ferrous scent, involving and quite mercurial. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannin, velvety smooth and a cashmere texture. A mixture of blue and black fruit laced with spice leads to a very composed but powerful finish that lingers for 60+ seconds. This is only just beginning to show what it can do. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 97+ VMThis gushes with mouthwatering blueberry, boysenberry and blackberry fruit, leading to a long black tea– and incense-filled finish. Darkens up considerably as it airs, with layers of extra flesh, Kenya AA coffee and charcoal notes striding through the finish. Shows an exotic side, and gorgeous mouthfeel. Best from 2015 through 2030. 950 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

The nose to this is fascinating with orange peel, mangoes, stones and hints of blanched walnuts. Full-bodied, yet dense and reserved. It shows amazing length and finesse. The finish shows wonderful, subtle and pure fruit. Breathtakingly subtle and complex. Better in 2018 but I love it.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2012 Lafleur presents a distinctly red-toned profile to match its silky, open-knit personality. Crushed flowers, sweet red cherry, plum, mint and spices are all nicely layered throughout. Medium in body, the 2012 nevertheless possesses lovely depth and pliancy, both of which suggest it will provide readers with a long window of exceptionally fine drinking. Proprietor Baptiste Guinaudeau describes 2012 as a cool vintage of open-knit wines and compares his 2012 to the 2001. This is a superb showing and one of the standouts of the year. Readers will find many terrific 2012s, but Lafleur is distinguished by its soul, something that is not to easy to find in Bordeaux. The 2012 is 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot.Antonio Galloni | 95 AG(Château Lafleur) The 2012 Château Lafleur has more merlot in it than is customary, as the merlot was perfect and the cabernet franc required quite a bit of selection to ensure that only the choicest vats were included in the grand vin this year. The resulting wine is exceptional, offering up a deep, complex and cool nose of cassis, dark berries, espresso, gravel, both currant and tobacco leaf and a very discreet base of spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and very suave on the attack, with a rock solid core of fruit, excellent focus and nascent complexity, ripe, fine-grained tannins and outstanding length and grip on the soil-driven and stunning finish. Château Lafleur has been one of the most consistently excellent estates in Pomerol over the last four vintages, but though this is not as powerful as some of the previous wines, stylistically, the 2012 may well be my favorite here since the lovely 2008 (even though the exceptional 2010 Lafleur is probably the superior wine in absolute terms). This is one of the stars of this vintage! (Drink between 2025-2075)John Gilman | 95 JGDeep ruby to the rim, the 2012 Lafleur possesses beautiful kirsch, sweet raspberry fruit, ripe tannin, and a lushness and roundness. It is medium to full-bodied and complex, with an exceptional texture and purity – all hallmarks of this property. This wine should drink well for another 15 or more years.Robert Parker | 94+ RP

This shows fabulous length with a chocolate, berry and mineral undertone. Licorice and currants too. Full body yet refined with seamless tannins. Goes on for minutes. It shows such amazing length and elegance. Depth. Phenomenal structure here, especially for the vintage. Reminds me of the 1998 or 1971, which were structured yet very fine.James Suckling | 98 JSAnother great wine from Pétrus, this has enormous depths without losing any of the fruit or freshness of Merlot in 2012. It's massive while also elegant, weighty, richly full-bodied and also structured. At this stage the wine does show some signs of wood aging, which will diminish as it ages. The fruitiness is deceptive because this wine demands aging. Drink from 2024.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEOne of the stars of the vintage, the wine (100% Merlot) has exceptional concentration, stunning purity, an inky purple color and a broad, expansive mouthfeel. Not a bit heavy, cloying or overwrought, this is a stunning Petrus (licorice, blackcurrants and truffles dominate) that will probably hit full maturity in 8-10 years and last 25-35. Another great example of this mythical wine that few can afford, virtually no one drinks, but everyone talks about! Relatively high in alcohol at 14.5%, the crop was tiny because of the spring’s poor flowering in this sector of Pomerol.Robert Parker | 96+ RP(Château Pétrus) The 2012 Château Pétrus is a stunning young wine and everyone on the team seemed to be in a very happy mood with the quality of the vintage here. The tasting took place in the new chais, as the tasting room is still under construction, and the tasting was notable for the relaxed and friendly atmosphere- which was in notable contrast to the almost monastic, reverential mood of past years here (as well as at most of the other First Growths). The harvest at Pétrus started on September 24th, only to see the rain arrive the next day, which suspended the picking until the 1st of October, with all the remaining grapes being collected over the next week. The wine is cool, pure and wonderfully suave, which totally belies its 14.5 percent alcohol, as I would have guessed this wine to be in the 13.2 to 13.5 percent range. The bouquet is deep, primary and very refined, wafting from the glass in a mix of plums, black cherries, dark soil tones, cigar smoke, espresso and a gentle touch of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and potentially very velvety, with a superb core, ripe, seamless tannins and superb focus and grip on the very long and classic finish. This may evolve along the lines of the 1985 Pétrus, but it may possess even a bit more stuffing and land at a higher level when all is said and done. A superb wine. (Drink between 2025-2075).John Gilman | 96 JGThis has some serious muscle, with rivets of graphite studding a beam of dense, gravelly grip that holds the core of steeped plum and raspberry notes together. Very long, with superior cut. A graphite note powers through the finish, while the fruit drips on and on. Best from 2018 through 2032.Wine Spectator | 96 WSOne of the stars this year. Ripe, seductive nose with blackcurrant, blackberry and liquorish notes. Shows upfront charm but the palate has power, depth and distinction. Rounded tannins. Superb length. Drinking Window 2022 - 2040.Decanter | 95 DECA dark, hulking beauty, the 2012 Pétrus is utterly beguiling. For the year, the Pétrus boasts remarkable density and pure power. Spice, leather, cedar and tobacco wrap around a core of intense, super-ripe fruit. Bad weather during flowering lowered potential yields and resulted in a firm, powerful Pétrus that is going to need time to blossom. I imagine the 2012 will still be a pretty special wine at age forty.Antonio Galloni | 94+ AG

A long way from being ready to go – I would suggest at least another six years – but it is going to be worth the wait for this wine. I’ve tasted it now on several separate occasions, and every time been blown away by its purity, succulence and precision. Blackberries, blackcurrants, liquorice, rosemary, aniseed and tight grilled tannins, all offset by violet aromatics. Serious, powerful, sets its own pace. Drinking Window 2026 - 2045.Decanter | 100 DECA thrill a minute as well as one of the most singular, exotic, elegant wines in the vintage, the 2016 Château Lafleur is a blend of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot that’s only from the choice lots of estate vineyard. Brought up in one-third new French oak, this saturated ruby/purple-colored effort offers heavenly notes of raspberries, blueberries, camphor, dried flowers, and ground herbs, and it has a Grand Cru Burgundy-like complexity and elegance. Full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, ultra-pure, and seamless, it has flawless balance as well as a monster finish. Haute couture at its finest, this is a magical wine to drink over the coming 3-4 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDThe texture of this wine is so memorable. The incredible tannins are so fine and creamy that they envelop both your mouth and your mind. The wine is full-bodied yet ethereal and balanced with incredibly energy and character. The flavors just keep on changing, from cherries and currants to truffles and earth. Some brick and terracotta, too. Fresh throughout with complete clarity. Great structure, yet creamy and light. Try after 2024.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2016 Lafleur is blended of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot grown mainly on gravel over clay. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the nose begins by slowly releasing gorgeous, beguiling scents of truffles, black soil, crushed rocks and smoked meats, giving way to a beautiful perfume of red roses, dark chocolate-covered cherries, oolong tea and lavender with wafts of cigar box and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is completely coated with taut, tightly wound yet ethereally weighted layers of earth, mineral and perfumed black fruits, firmly fixed by very fine-grained tannins and great freshness, finishing very long and incredibly fragrant.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPThe 2016 Lafleur is an eternal, complete wine in which everything just seems to fall into place naturally. Creamy and voluptuous in the glass, with exceptional balance, the 2016 possesses superb textural intensity allied to soaring aromatics. Strong Cabernet Franc signatures give the wine brilliante and layers of saline-infused energy. Rose petal, mint, crushed flowers and dark red fruits abound, but it is the wine’s total sense of completeness that is most astounding today. "I have to say, 2016 came totally out of the blue," Baptiste Guinadeau commented. "In 2010 and 2015 we had a pretty good idea of the kind of wines we were going to make during the growing season but in 2016 we really had no clue until harvest approached. It was only then that we started to get a sense of how the wines might turn out.Antonio Galloni | 99 AGThis is a dense, generous wine with fine fruit and concentrated tannins. I find lots of acidity here but also a solid base of tannins. It has a good, long-term future.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WE