Lafleur 1986

Dark dense ruby/purple, with very little evolution to the color, Lafleur's 1986 seems frozen in time, a structured, tannic, backward monster that still needs considerable cellaring. No matter how much airing I have given this wine, it does not ever seem to emerge from its cloak of tannin and structure. The fruit seems sweet, and the wine has Lafleur's telltale notes of kirsch liqueur intermixed with raspberries, minerals, flowers, and truffles. The wine is medium-bodied, weighty in the mouth, but so, so tannic and backward. Will it ever blossom? Anticipated maturity: 2008-2035. Last tasted, 8/02.

Tasted at Benoit restaurant in New York. This bottle is similar to the ex-chateau example opened in Austria less than one year earlier. It has an unchallenging bouquet with dusty aromas, touches of forest floor, wild mushroom and here a little more leather than I recall. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, the Cabernet Franc as usual, more expressive and driving this Lafleur more than the Merlot. It is a masculine wine that has always refused to compromise. My concern is that it is beginning to dry out, so I advise drinking this vintage in the near future, whereas the 1983 and 1985 will last much longer. Tasted April 2013.