(98-100 points) (Vin de France; 49% Merlot; 52% Bouchet [Cabernet Franc]; from its wonderful astèries limestone terroir; a final yield of 35 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted at Lafleur with Baptiste Guinaudeau). Rose petals, rose water, lilac, lily, violet: this is incredibly beautiful – all the more so because it is, at first, a little intimate. It draws you in as it always does. You come to it, you are in its presence, and it's not ready at first to reveal all of its secrets. That gives it the signature haunting beauty of the best wines of the vintage. Peony, above all with aeration. Cedar and graphite. Rippling dark berry fruits. This is texturally fascinating, as ever, and everything is beatutfully soft. It develops through stages. The gentle grip of the tannins almost breaks up the exterior form of the wine, and as each component element seems to pick up and integrate the freshness released, the wine becomes more and more sinuous – almost like the tentacles of the octopus. They dance on the finish. Utterly beautiful. If this is, as Baptiste puts it, the new era at Lafleur, then we can have 100% confidence in that future. 98-100

(98-100 points) Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2025 Lafleur is closed to begin, needing a lot of patient swirling to unlock scents of ripe plums and juicy blackberries, opening out to reveal a fragrant undercurrent of violets, licorice, mint tea, and underbrush with a hint of mossy tree bark. The medium-bodied palate is the archetypal iron fist in a velvet glove—at once powerful and taut with its stacked black fruit, floral, and mineral layers and very firm tannins, yet velvety-textured with incredible tension, finishing very long, perfumed, and graceful with a persistent hum of minerals. Edifying.

(97-99+ points) A powerful, inward, yet incredibly discrete and classy wine, the 2025 Château Lafleur reveals black raspberries, framboise, graphite, crushed stone, and floral notes on the nose. Based on 49% Merlot and 51% Bouchet, it's full-bodied on the palate, with a deep, rich, layered mouthfeel, remarkable length, and tons of polished tannins. It's an absolute dream of a wine, and I have no doubt this will check in with the top handful of wines in the vintage.

(97-99 points) The 2025 Lafleur was picked early, from August 26 to 28 and from September 10 to 12 for the Cabernet Franc. Of course, this is the first year when the wine is classified as Vin de France after water was added to the soil, contravening Pomerol's AC rules. Discussing at length with Baptiste Guinaudeau, whilst I can see that it would essentially resuscitate the parched vine, the amounts are too little to affect the wine when considering the actual rainfall figures. For sure, it has a bashful bouquet at first and demands time to really open in the glass, 10 to 15 minutes. Only then does it reveal enticing scents of blackcurrant, bilberry, crushed stone and iris flower, all beautifully defined and very succinct-quintessential Lafleur. The palate is medium-bodied and framed by chiselled tannins that lend this Pomerol beguiling symmetry. What really marks this Lafleur is its tremendous persistence on the finish. It just goes on and on. This is a great Lafleur, irrespective of what it took to get there. -- Neal Martin

High perfume, iris, peony, fragrant and finessed, a slow slow slow unroll of slate and crayon, saffron, grilled cumin, oyster shell, cassis pastille. Such a fabulous wine that has intense interest around it this year, after leaving the Pomerol AOC, and yet manages to shrug it off and simply concentrate on doing what it does best. 33% new oak. Harvest August 26 to September 12

(96-98 points) The 2025 Lafleur is generous and expressive, bursting with aromas of sweet cherries and raspberries mingled with notions of licorice, anise and violets. Full-bodied, dense and muscular, with a fleshy attack that segues into an ample, layered core of primary fruit, it's built around plenty of sweet, powdery tannin. This is a large-scaled Lafleur endowed with everything in abundance.

(96-98 points) The dawn of a new era for the Guinaudeau family, as a commitment to unauthorised irrigation in this vintage saw them forced to forego the Pomerol appellation and instead move Lafleur into Vine de France (and they chose to do the same with all their other wines as well). This is a aromatically expressive 2025, with a powerful perfume, all red pepper, peony, raspberry and crushed gravel freshness. The silky coherence on the palate is a delight, with a supple and sinewy palate, energetic and lithe, carrying a core of tense, mineral and tightly focused fruit, supported by a layer of driven tannic grip and fresh acids. A delicious Lafleur here, fragrant, elegant and composed, with a tense and tightly compacted structure. This has excellent potential. The blend is 49% Merlot, picked August 26th to the 28th, and 51% Cabernet Franc, picked from September 10th to the 12th. The yield was 35 hl/ha. The alcohol is reported to be 14%. 96-98/100

A quietly compelling wine from Lafleur this year. Creamy blue fruit aromas on the nose, quite open and friendly with some purple floral aspects and ripe but cool fruit, milk chocolate and some dried herbs. Soft and bouncy with both immediate grip and energy and intensity. Round and filling but delicately so - nothing overdone, there’s flesh and tannin presence but a certain lifted aspect where nothing is heavy. Lots of layers, fully textured but lattice-like. Still quite a dark style despite a juicy core with liquorice, flint, smoke, cedar and clove all in harmony. Really very cool and fresh, nothing hot or sunny about this wine. Serious, knitted, dark and finely tuned with good construction and grip while giving the impression that it’s not too muscular. Bravo. A yield of 35hl/ha. Now designated as a Vin de France as are all the other wines in the Lafleur range.

(94-97+ points) Fine and very perfumed nose with notes of crunchy, silky fruit followed by an elegant and silky taste. Smooth, aristocratic and very fine with a minerally touch of saltiness and gravel. Very well balanced and lots of well concealed power, this is a very fine and elegant Lafleur.