Jeb Dunnuck (98)

One of my favorite wines (although it's hard to find), La Violette makes a rich, sexy, yet always elegant and seamless style of Pomerol. Their 2019 Château La Violette is deep purple-hued and offers an incredible perfume of blue fruits, iron, tobacco, spice box, flowers, and loamy earth. Full-bodied on the palate, it shows the pure, elegant style of the vintage, has beautiful tannins, perfect balance, and a great, great finish. There's lots of creamy background oak that needs time to integrate, but this is another remarkable release from this team. Give it a few years and enjoy over the following 20-25.

Jeb Dunnuck (94-96)

Emerging from the team at Château Le Gay, the 2020 Château La Violette is just a stunningly elegant, medium to full-bodied Pomerol that’s as pure as they come, offering gorgeous notes of red, blue, and black fruits, violets, iron, and chalky minerality. It’s relatively forward and supple on the palate, with moderate acidity, but the balance is spot on, it has silky tannins, and it just sings on the finish. This thrilling Pomerol is going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and cruise for two decades.

Jeb Dunnuck (94-96)

Emerging from the team at Château Le Gay, the 2020 Château La Violette is just a stunningly elegant, medium to full-bodied Pomerol that’s as pure as they come, offering gorgeous notes of red, blue, and black fruits, violets, iron, and chalky minerality. It’s relatively forward and supple on the palate, with moderate acidity, but the balance is spot on, it has silky tannins, and it just sings on the finish. This thrilling Pomerol is going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and cruise for two decades.

Vinous - Neal Martin (93-95)

The 2021 La Violette has a typically precocious bouquet with violet-tinged blackberry and cassis fruit. The oak is nicely integrated and it feels less ostentatious than previous vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins and good grip. This is very pure with a dash of black pepper infusing the mélange of black and blue fruit. There is plenty of substance on the finish that should ensure this Pomerol will age well in bottle.

Vinous - Neal Martin (93-95)

The 2021 La Violette has a typically precocious bouquet with violet-tinged blackberry and cassis fruit. The oak is nicely integrated and it feels less ostentatious than previous vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins and good grip. This is very pure with a dash of black pepper infusing the mélange of black and blue fruit. There is plenty of substance on the finish that should ensure this Pomerol will age well in bottle.

James Suckling (96-97)

Firm and layered with very fine tannins and impressive blackberry, dark chocolate and spice character, yet it is very reserved and beautiful. Medium to full body. Refined tannins and a savory finish. A sleek and linear beauty. Terrific potential here.

James Suckling (96-97)

Firm and layered with very fine tannins and impressive blackberry, dark chocolate and spice character, yet it is very reserved and beautiful. Medium to full body. Refined tannins and a savory finish. A sleek and linear beauty. Terrific potential here.

Jeb Dunnuck (96)

Plummy red and black fruits, sappy flowers, chocolate, graphite, and violets all emerge from the 2023 La Violette, a smaller-production Pomerol that was vinified and aged entirely in barrel. As with the Le Gay from the same team, this is a more exotic, elegant style, and it's medium-bodied on the palate, with beautifully integrated oak, a round, layered, seamless mouthfeel, and fine tannins. This classy, nuanced, graceful Pomerol needs to be hidden for 4-6 years and will cruise over the following two decades. Drink 2030-2050.

Vinous - Neal Martin (100)

The 1982 Lafleur is to the Right Bank what '82 Latour is to the Left. It is one of the most consistent, most enthralling wines. The aromatics rivet you to the spot with intense black fruit, a touch of camphor and sea salt, delivered with breathtaking delineation. The palate is structured and less grippy than it showed 20 years ago; like the aforementioned Pauillac it is endowed with multiple layers of pixelated black fruit and a persistent finish that lingers long in the mouth. Stunning. Tasted single blind at the 1982 dinner at Cornus in London.

Wine Advocate (97+)

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! Release price: ($1800.00/case)

Wine Advocate (90)

As I suspected, the 1996 Lafleur is a painfully backward, austere wine that represents a modern day clone of this estate's 1966. It possesses a backward, tannic, Medoc-like character, with none of Pomerol's hallmark generosity. The wine exhibits a saturated dark purple color, as well as a distinctive mineral, black raspberry, and berry-scented nose with the steely, mineral Lafleur character well-displayed. Powerful, long, and rich, but excruciatingly tannic, this wine may or may not resolve all of its tannin. In short, it is an impressively constituted wine that is no sure thing. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2025.

Decanter (98)

The depth and concentration of the vintage meant that Lafleur remained fiercely closed for a number of years, emphasising even more than usual how different it is from many of its Pomerol siblings. Today it is uncurled and impossible to ignore. Still an intellectual take on this most exceptional of Pomerol vintages, complex and subtle with wisps of cold ash and flint against a richer blackberry cushion of fruit, richly textured but still firmly in control. Now inching towards its full expression, tantalisingly close and sure to deliver this level of brilliance for decades to come. 50% new oak.

Vinous - Neal Martin (93)

The 1999 Lafleur flies under the radar between the feted 1998 and 2000 vintages. However, it should not be under-estimated. It has a lucid deep color. The bouquet is not dissimilar to the previous bottle tasted in 2012, blessed with pure blackberry and briary scents, hints of gravel that render it not a million miles away from a Left Bank. The palate is very well balanced and seems silkier than ever. Whilst it does not possess the mineral core of the 1998, it has a disarmingly pure and graceful finish. Whilst not a Lafleur of immense length or grandeur it is approachable and beautifully crafted. Tasted at the “International Wine & Business” Lafleur dinner at Ten Trinity, London.

Vinous - Neal Martin (93)

The 1999 Lafleur flies under the radar between the feted 1998 and 2000 vintages. However, it should not be under-estimated. It has a lucid deep color. The bouquet is not dissimilar to the previous bottle tasted in 2012, blessed with pure blackberry and briary scents, hints of gravel that render it not a million miles away from a Left Bank. The palate is very well balanced and seems silkier than ever. Whilst it does not possess the mineral core of the 1998, it has a disarmingly pure and graceful finish. Whilst not a Lafleur of immense length or grandeur it is approachable and beautifully crafted. Tasted at the “International Wine & Business” Lafleur dinner at Ten Trinity, London.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

Red and black fruits, huge truffle, graphite, spring flowers, and remarkable complexity all emerge from the 2000 Château Lafleur, a 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc blend that is the very essence of this legendary Pomerol estate. Full-bodied on the palate, it's pure and seamless, with fine, polished tannins, incredible depth, and a finish that simply won't quit. If this doesn't make your eyes roll back in your head, nothing will. It's drinking utterly spectacularly today and has another two decades of longevity at this level, with a gradual decline thereafter. Drink 2026-2046.

Wine Spectator (95-100)

This is seductive. Opulent aromas of chocolate, berry, plum and minerals. Full-bodied, with a fabulous concentration of fruit and supersilky tannins. This is the best wine of Pomerol and one of the most beautiful of 2003. Really exciting. Score range: 95-100