The 1990 Lafleur is equally powerful, muscular, and super-concentrated, but the tannin is riper as well as better-integrated, resulting in a phenomenally extracted wine revealing the 1990 vintage's overripeness. There are copious amounts of sweet black-cherry fruit. One taster remarked, "why does this wine taste so much like Rayas (the renowned Grenache-based Chateauneuf du Pape)?" There is an unreal reality to such a comment, largely because both producers tend to pick their fruit at an overripe stage, producing an exotic, compelling wine. Despite its size, the 1990 Lafleur is more developed than the 1989, but it will easily be as long-lived given its massive weight, viscous texture, and profound mouthfeel and finish. It needs 5-10 more years of cellaring and will last for four decades. Both of these vintages rival the great Lafleurs of 1982, 1979, 1975, 1950, 1947, and 1945.
