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In Case You Missed It: Originally posted December 31, 2010
Château Lafite-Rothschild has an impressive history. I was looking at the ancient bottles in the tasting room of the estate in early December when I was there to taste the 2008 from bottle, and I was in awe of some of them dating back to the 1700s (The video only shows bottles from 1869 onwards). But I obviously wasn’t at the famous first growth to taste history. I was evaluating the most recent vintage in bottle, and it was classic quality. It reminds me of the excellent 1996, but it shows more polish, precision, and density. Winemaker Charles Chevallier was worried that his 2008 red was a little closed and dumb due to the bottling last summer, but I found no problems. He also explained how they make the selection for the second wine of Lafite, Carruades de Lafite, which I thought was one of the best in a long time. It is the best Carruades since 2000.
Ratings
Château Lafite-Rothschild, Pauillac: Minerals, tar and sous bois with dark fruit. Sweet tobacco. Black licorice. Full and chewy with lots of fruit but very reserved. So much mineral and sweet tobacco. It is all there. Give it four to five years of bottle age before beginning to explore the wine. 95 points $
Carruades de Lafite-Rothschild, Pauillac: I like the core of fruit and cedary, berry and plum character. It’s full bodied, with well-integrated tannins and a racy finish. Very well done for Carruades. Best after 2013. 91 points $