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.

---

Show more

---

---

Show less

---