2020 Pensées de Lafleur, Pomerol (1.5L)

The 2020 Pensées de Lafleur unwinds in the glass with deep aromas of cherries, raspberries, crushed mint and black truffle. Full-bodied, layered and velvety, with a broad and enveloping attack that segues into a deep and rather taut mid-palate, it concludes with a long, penetrating finish. As usual, this isn't a second wine, per se: it derives from vines growing in the part of Lafleur's vineyard through which a watercourse once flowed and where the soils are richer in clay and better hydrated, and the Guinadeau family like to refer to it as more stereotypically Pomerolais than Lafleur itself. The 2020's tension and structure, however, mark it out as the most Lafleur-like Pensées of recent years. (WK) 95+