CHATEAU LAFITE-ROTHSCHILD 1er Grand Cru Classe Pauillac 2023 Wooden Case x 3 Bottles - PRE-RELEASE

Description

THE WINE ADVOCATE (97-99)
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The finest of the first growths this year appears to be the 2023 Lafite Rothschild, a terrific effort that unwinds in the glass with deep and incipiently complex aromas of cassis, pencil shavings, lilac and violets mingled with hints of cigar wrapper and mint. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it's vibrant and refined, with a deep core of fruit, plenty of sweet structuring tannin and a compelling marriage between energy and plenitude. It's a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot that reminds me of 2019's tannins combined with 2016's unimpeachable classicism.

Today, Château Lafite Rothschild amounts to some 110 hectares planted to some 900,000 vines (including 4.5 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon in Saint-Estèphe). If that figure strikes readers as smaller than it used to be, that's because Lafite has ripped up some less optimally situated plots that never tended to produce wine fit for inclusion in the grand vin. As of 2021, what's more, organic conversion is underway (15 hectares are already farmed biodynamically); and hedges and flowering borders, planted with native species, now begin to break up the monoculture of the vine. Cover crops, too, have been added to the viticultural team's agronomic arsenal and are delivering good results in parcels with more humid or clay-rich soils. In the winery, Lafite is meticulously traditional—the grapes are sorted twice, once optically, and see a classical maceration in wooden and cement tanks with pump-overs and some use of the "air pulse" system that disrupts the cap and oxygenates the ferment without the need for a full pump-over. Malolactic fermentation, as ever, is in tank, and the wine matures in barrels that are mostly produced in-house, with a light toast, favoring the forests of Allier and Nevers. Each vintage is racked three times, traditionally, with one egg white fining (which requires up to 8,000 eggs). As is the case almost everywhere in the Médoc, the tendency is for less and less Merlot in the assemblage.

JAMES SUCKLING ***** 97-98 Points
15 Apr, 2024 – The purity of cabernet sauvignon is so evident here. It mesmerizes you with aromas of black and red currants, cedar, tobacco and bark. It's full-bodied yet there's very impressive weightlessness and agility, as well as subtlety and focus. Some iron and terra-cotta. Cedar and sandalwood undertones. Juicy and plummy at the end. 12.9% alcohol. 3.75 pH. A blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot.

DECANTER 98
Tasted by: Georgina Hindle (at Bordeaux, 08 Apr 2024) Part of Best Pauillac 2023 wines tasted en primeur
Drinking Window: 2033 - 2060
A clear contender for wine of the vintage. Deep, purple colour on the rim. Some soft herbal and floral aromatics, milk chocolate. A real sense of understated power as Lafite does so well. Not so demonstrative at all, but there’s a gorgeous charming delicacy to this - fine powdery blue fruit tannins with edges of liquorice and slate. Smooth and supple, excellent weight in the mouth, light and streamlined, less overt acidity and brightness than Carruades, but still with a mouthwatering centre that gives strawberry and cherry fruit flavours. Ends with subtle graphite and wet stone, long and lingering though. Just delightful, so elegant and finessed. You can feel the density on the finish, the slight weight of the tannins comes at the end, bringing a controlled and quiet power. I love the sense of ease and seamlessness about this wine, it just slips down. 1% of very old Petit Verdot went into the blend this year. 15% press. 3.8pH. 38% grand vin production. Ageing 90% new oak. A potential 100-point wine.

JANE ANSON 98-100
VINOUS 95-98
LISA PEROTTI-BROWN 97-99

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