Lafite Rothschild - 13 Vintages tonight

[Winona Chief]

I will try to to post my thoughts tomorrow when I can think straight. Lots of Champagne, white Burgundy, Lafite and Yquem tonight.

Chris Bublitz

[Comte Flaneur]

Love to get your impressions Chris, however brief

[JoelD]

This was like a JimHow tease, but longer

[Nicklasss]

Come on Chris, it is not Tour Saint-Christophe, it is Lafite Rothschild, we're thirsty while waiting your comments.

[Winona Chief]

Okay, okay. I was not invited to the Lafite dinner on Thursday night at the residence of the Ambassador of France but I did get invited to the secret Wednesday night Lafite dinner at Taberna del Alabardero in DC.

Some great Champagnes - 1996 Taittinger Comtes BdB (great), 1996 Salon (great), Selosse (very old and a little tired but still amazing flavors).

A couple white wines (Burgundy and Rhône) that were fine but not that special.

And on too Lafite. I must say, I am not that big a fan of Lafite so take that into consideration.

The best to my taste were the 2009, 1990 and 1996 - those were the big stars. Great fruit flavors from the 1990 and 2009 with the 1996 showing it’s winning style once again.

Other top experiences were the 2000, 2003 and 2001. Great present and future for the 2000 and 2003. The 2001 is in a very nice place for current drinking.

Those six were very special wines. My big issue is that I didn’t find the other six all that impressive. The 1964 was past its best (in contrast other recent 1964s have been more impressive - La Mission H.B. in particular). The 1975 tasted okay but had a strange aroma (a recent 1975 Pichon Lalande was much better). The 1986 was impressive (like 1986 Chateau Margaux) but not nearly as enjoyable as 1986 Talbot or Rausan Segla.

More thoughts to follow.

Chris Bublitz

[Winona Chief]

Nothing wrong with the 1988 and 2002 Lafite. Both were very good wines but didn’t seem all that special to me. I really didn’t like 1994 Lafite all that much.

We finished the evening with a wonderful bottle of 1988 Yquem. Second great one of those in a row.

My Favorite first growths are Haut Brion, Margaux and Latour. I have had some great experiences with Lafite but overall it just doesn’t send me like those others. And the prices are just ridiculous.

Chris Bublitz

[Winona Chief]

I guess there were only 12 vintages of Lafite that evening!

Chris Bublitz

[Nicklasss]

Thanks Chris. What a lineup!

Personally, i did not had Lafite often. It is one of those wines that are very mysterious, and that people seems to enjoy in small group instead of big group tastings. But luckily, my first encounter with Lafite was at Chicago in 2001, when whuzzup_ brought not one, but two magums of 1976 Lafite... and i thought they were great.

I read many good things about the 6 vintages that you preferred at that tasting. The 2001 seems in a good spot from your note, but the Lafite that i would like to try one day, is surely the 1996, as it was my kind of vintage in the Médoc.

[Winona Chief]

For real tasting notes on the wines go to the Facebook page of Bijan Jabbari or the Facebook page of Kevin Shin. Kevin’s tasting notes are also available on Cellartracker under the name dcwino.

Chris Bublitz

[JoelD]

Sounds like a great lineup, Chris. Glad you got to go. Even though it's not your favorite Bordeaux, I'm sure it was still a great time.

Here's the CT writeup for anyone who wants it.

https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp ... ource=list

[DavidG]

Wow, what a lineup. Thanks for the impressions Chris. I love Lafite, though I do prefer other firsts. Don’t ban me, but I suspect my favorites would have been the 1996 Salon and 1988 Yquem. 1996 was the last year I bought Salon - just got too expensive after that.

[Comte Flaneur]

Thanks for your impressions Chris.

[dstgolf]

Likewise David wrt Salon. For some reason the LCBO was clearing out the 96 Salon and my buddies and I each bought a case. I must say we all got kinda tired of drinking this after a while even though it was very good. I've never got tired of Dom/Crystal or Krug.

Lafite again not my favourite 1st but when its been on it can be superb but the price doesn't justify those mediocre vintages which happen more often than not. Still like to experiment and love to read the notes. Thanks Chris.

[JimHow]

This is not a knock against verticals, horizontals, BWE extravaganzas, etc., but Lafite is a wine tgat eaiecually needs to be contemplated by itself, one bottle, maybe another, over dinner, like when Jacques/Jill came to my house and we had the 2001. It is an intellectual wine experience, to me as good as it gets.

[Winona Chief]

David, I only asked for an additional pour of 4 wines: the two 1996 Champagnes (Salon and Taittinger CdC), the 1990 Lafite and the 1988 Yquem. Initial pours were about 2 ounces so about a third of each bottle was left after going around. I didn’t finish many of the wines.

Chris Bublitz

[Winona Chief]

One of my best recent wine experiences was with three people sharing 2 bottles of wine over almost 4 hours. Drinking just a few wines very slowly over several hours helps one to really understand and appreciate the wines.

Chris Bublitz

[Musigny 151]

I can’t say I have ever had a really great bottle of Lafite. I have had a lot of very good ones, but they were usually in a flight with other wines and they fell in the middle or lower. Even when I have them alone, and have time to contemplate, I like its complexity but never found that it gave that much pleasure.

[Djbads]

Can anyone help me get rid of a bottle of 1961 Chateau Lafite Rothschild

[robert goulet]

Had the 1989 Lafite recently...a very good wine, but didn't blow me away. Had the 1998 too about 6 months back...again a good wine, but not overly memorable.

Though I did like the 2003 quite a bit last year

[tim]

Lafite is the first growth estate that I have had the least of (and unfortunately the worst of, as the 68 and the 70 were pretty awful). I hope to have an amazing bottle someday. Time to crack open one of the 2002s?

[Musigny 151]

Lafite bottled by the barrel until 1975. There is some good 1970, particularly in large format, where they seemed to have reserved the better barrels. 1968 is dreck everywhere in Bordeaux.

[JimHow]

Lafite is #1 among the 56 wines of my reclassification of the wines of the Medoc. I was so disappointed when we had to cancel our trip there in 2020.

First Growths

1. Lafite Rothschild
2. Margaux
3. Haut Brion
4. Mouton Rothschild
5. Latour

Second Growths

6. Pichon Longueville Baron
7. Montrose
8. La Mission Haut Brion
9. Ducru Beaucaillou
10. Leoville Las Cases
11. Palmer
12. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
13. Cos d’Estournel
14. Leoville Barton

Third Growths

15. Calon Segur
16. Smith Haut Lafitte
17. Haut Bailly
18. Brane Cantenac
19. Rausan Segla
20. Pape Clement
21. Giscours
22. d'Issan

Fourth Growths

23. Pontet Canet
24. Clerc Milon
25. Branaire Ducru
26. Gruaud Larose
27. Leoville Poyferre
28. Sociando Mallet
29. Lafon Rochet
30. Beychevelle
31. Malescot St. Exupery
32. Duhart Milon
33. du Tertre
34. Talbot
35. Lagrange
36. Lascombes
37. Prieure Lichine
38. Domaine de Chevalier
39. D’Armailhac
40. Kirwan

Fifth Growths

41. Lynch Bages
42. La Lagune
43. Gloria
44. Meyney
45. Malartic Lagraviere
46. Cantemerle
47. Chasse Spleen
48. Haut Batailley
49. Batailley
50. Langoa Barton
51. St. Pierre
52. Cantenac Brown
53. Boyd Cantenac
54. Les Ormes de Pez
55. Phelan Segur
56. de Lamarque

[marcs]

I have never had a Lafite. Or a Margaux or Latour for that matter. I should try to rectify that someday

My Bordeaux collection is stuffed with what Jim classified as second growths but no first growths. I decided early on that they were unaffordable, although from an investment perspective I now realize I would have been better off buying them