Wine Advocate: 100 Points
1990 (96pts) 2000 (98pts) 2010 (100pts) Interestingly a bottle of 1990 Lafite Rothschild I pulled from my cellar for a video blog on my web site was still buttoned down tight and even with extended decanting was not showing as much as I would have hoped. However a bottle tasted of all places in Seoul Korea in February was only a few points short of perfection. That amazing performance motivated me to pull another bottle out of my cellar and follow it over the course of two days. Sure enough by the second day the wine was roaring from the glass. The 1990 Lafite has turned out far better than my early assessment. While it still possesses some firmness and performs like a late adolescent in terms of its evolution it boasts gorgeous aromas of cedar tobacco leaf cassis and lead pencil shavings. The explosive aromas are followed by a fleshy full-bodied wine that should hit its peak in 5-8 years and last for 25-30 more. Release price:($1400.00/case) Published: Jun 29 2009 Robert M. Parker Jr. The Wine Advocate Since I gave this wine a perfect score I suppose some could see this as a downgrade. I found everything still there for a perfect rating but I was just struck by how tight and backward the wine was. A blend of 93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot the wine still has a dark ruby/purple color and an extraordinarily youthful nose of graphite black currants sweet unsmoked cigar tobacco and flowers. The wine is rich medium to full-bodied but has that ethereal elegance and purity that is always Lafite. I originally predicted that it would first reach maturity in 2011 but I would push that back by 5-7 years now although it has 50-60 years of life in front of it. Owners of this beauty are probably best advised to forget it for 5 years. Tasted next to a 1996 several days after the 2000 tasting the 1996 which is a perfect wine was far closer to full maturity than the 2000.? Published: Jun 28 2010 Robert M. Parker Jr. The Wine Advocate Deep garnet in color the 2010 Lafite Rothschild is a little mute on the nose at this stage opening to reveal warm blackcurrants baked plums and boysenberry scents with hints of chocolate mint violets cedar chest and pencil lead. Full-bodied rich and densely packed with perfumed black fruit layers it has a rock-solid backbone of fantastically ripe grainy tannins and beautiful freshness finishing very long and minerally. Still very youthful!? Published: Mar 05 2020 Lisa Perrotti-Brown The Wine Advocate
Decanter: 100 Points
1990 (95pts) 2000 (98pts) 2010 (100pts) A smoky slightly baked character to the fruit and an undercurrent of dark chocolate and ground coffee. The texture is soft sunny and supple with agreeable plumpness on the finish. 1990 was another sunny year that produced a lush ripe result for Lafite that is immediately approachable. Although it should continue to show well it lacks the incisive character of cooler years. The growing season was easy with warm weather throughout and a successful flowering that set a large crop. There was sufficient sun to ripen all the fruit however and the final result was 57% Cabernet Sauvignon 30% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc. Tasted by: Charles Curtis MW Decanter Feb 2022 The bouquet is amazingly open and forward at this stage with a ripe black fruit character on the nose just beginning to open up and reveal savoury notes of leather earth and roast coffee. The texture is lush and dense and there is plenty of body and structure to make this a wine for the long term. I visited the Château in July of 2000 and it was pouring with rain; that week there was plenty of spraying for rot. Fortunately it was hot and dry for the rest of the summer and the fruit ended up healthy and ripe although only 36% of the harvest made it into the grand vin which was 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Merlot. Tasted by: Charles Curtis MW Decanter Feb 2022 This vintage featured a cold winter and cool weather at flowering followed by a dry summer with a hot July and warm days and cool nights in August and September. The season delivered a wine with an inky dark colour and bright aromas of blackcurrant and spice with a distinctive floral edge. The texture is lively and crisp with plenty of freshness firm tannins and impressive length. This wine will be best after another 10 years in bottle and will easily last 50 years beyond that. This superb vibrant wine is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot with no Cabernet Franc or Petit Verdot in the grand vin. Tasted by: Charles Curtis MW Decanter Feb 2022
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