Les Perrieres de Lafleur 2021 (750ML)

95 DE / 94 VM / 94 WA / 93+ JD / 93 JS / 93 JA / 93 WI / 92 WCI / 92 FS / 16++ JR

Smells ripe and concentrated, blackcurrant, black cherry and plum. Tension and minerality to the fore here, this is streamlined and direct, less layered and plump but has excellent depth and density with silky smooth tannins - they have structure but so well integrated giving bite rather than chew. Floral accents give a lovely delicate framing to the flavours, elegant and refined but still so powerful. Really concentrated and intense underneath the frame - there is structure here but it’s tightly wrapped and delivered very linear at the moment. The fruit is ripe no doubt but they also have a real savoury tone with a wet stone, salty, soy, iro and iodine tang on the finish - clear markers of the terroir. Sophisticated, complex, persistent and detailed. A contemplative wine with purity - and part of the overall excellent range from Lafleur this year. Drinking Window 2026 - 2040 - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

The 2021 Les Perrières is a very serious wine, just as it was en primeur. Dark cherry, mocha, licorice, spice, gravel and crushed rocks build effortlessly. There's a level of dynamic energy here that is just beguiling. Cabernet Franc and limestone soils are so distinctive. I would give this a few years in bottle. Impressive - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

The cooler vintage has lent the 2021 Les Perrières de Lafleur an even greater sense of transparency than preceding vintages, even if this bottling has always had a remarkably pronounced site signature. Unfurling in the glass with deep aromas of raspberries, plums, Indian spices, burning embers and licorice, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with beautifully refined tannins, lively acids and an intensely mineral finish. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

The third vintage for this Fronsac estate coming all from a massal selection from Château Lafleur in Pomerol, the Cabernet Franc-dominated 2021 Les Perrieres De Lafleur sports a deep purple hue to go with a brilliant perfume of ripe black cherry and black raspberry fruits, intermixed with tons of flora, chalky minerality, and graphite-like aromatics. More precise, focused, and elegant than the Grand Village yet just as concentrated, it will be drinkable in just a few years and have 15 years or more prime drinking.- Jeb Dunnuck

A racy and refined red with a beautiful center palate of integrated tannins that flow into the wine. Medium-bodied and creamy, with an extremely polished, juicy finish. 62% cabernet franc and 38% merlot. Drink or hold. - James Suckling

Sculpted cool vintage fruit, with a defined spine, gunsmoke, slate, blueberry and red cherry. High floral aromatics, with grip and salinity. Delivers delicacy and a sense of carefully stepping through the palate, a definite wine to look out for. You have to work a little with it, allow it to open slowly and carefully. Suggest giving a few more years in bottle but it will be worth the wait. From the same team as Château Lafleur in Pomerol.-Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux