Château Lafite-Rothschild 2015

Velvet- and silk-textured red currant, raspberry and black cherry compote notes glide through, supported by a perfectly embedded graphite spine, while enticing violet, black tea and alder accents add range through the finish. Very refined and sneakily long. Best from 2025 through 2045. 16,000 cases made.

The power in this vintage of Lafite is hidden, but it is there in spades and tiptoes up along the palate. Lovely brushed tannins are extremely well placed, discreetly holding the fruit. In many ways this is a truly classic Lafite because it is understated and lyrical. It's a wine that demands you know Lafite to see just how beautifully it will develop, says winemaker Eric Kohler. 40% of overall estate production. 100% new oak. Bottled early June 2017.

Firm and powerful with blackberries, blueberries, currants and wet earth. Full-bodied, yet tight and angular with very pretty fruit and brightness. Really racy and super and set for a long, long life. Better after 2025. Reviewed in Hong Kong Chinese Wine Tasting July 2020.

Tasted blind. Rather dull crimson. Very shaded towards the rim. Sweet and well integrated on the nose. Then fresh and lively on the finish. The acidity on the end is just a little sharp though. Tannins insist on the end. Lighter than some. Spearmint. Lafite? (JR)

Lafite Rothschild is not a wine to drink in its youth. When young, all the elements are there: the intense purity of fruit, impossibly silky textures, and freshness that gives lift without ever feeling acidic. In fact, its qualities and character build in intensity, volume, and length over time. As with all great vintages of Lafite, patience is required—at least 15 to 20 years or more—to enjoy it at its best.

Dark ruby, deep colour core with purple reflections and delicate rim brightening. Some nougat in the background, an oak touch, delicate ripe plum, liquorice and tobacco create a multi-faceted bouquet. Substantial, very finessed underlay, black berry fruit, almost silky tannins, salty minerality, pronounced in fruit finish. Seems a bit slimmer in this phase, pleasant delicate sweetness in the finish, great future with certain ageing potential.

The grand vin 2015 Lafite-Rothschild checks in at 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the balance Merlot, brought up entirely in 100% new oak. Director Eric Kohler (who replaced Charles Chevallier in 2015) told me the vintage saw a touch of dilution but wasn’t a complicated year. The 2015 is an aristocratic, classy example from this estate, offering textbook lead pencil shavings, tobacco, smoked herbs, and graphite, as well as a beautiful core of currant and cassis fruit. It’s the most refined and subtle of the first growths, with medium to full-bodied richness, building tannins, and undeniable class and charm. Give the bottles 4–5 years of age and enjoy over the following 2–3 decades.

91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot. (The Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot were declassified). Deep purple-garnet, dense at the core, with violet glints at the rim. The bouquet reveals a wonderful, delicate, and intoxicating sweetness: caramel, sandalwood, candied fruit. On the second approach, it shows a perfumed play of Damassine plum and the finest notes of fresh thyme, mint, and dried kitchen herbs. On the palate, nonchalant, with very rich yet exquisitely fine astringency. The balance is regal; everything is in its right place. A dancing, almost playful Lafite. And that is exactly what it can be sometimes. This will be a delicacy quite similar to what the 1953 was in its very best days.

THE REINCARNATION OF THE 1953! The Lafite-Rothschild team handles the en primeur campaign more efficiently than any other Pauillac First Growth. At Latour, you first have quite a walk from the car park to the estate, and then you sit for a good while in the lounge before being invited to taste. At Mouton-Rothschild it would be quicker, but you have to wait outside for the electric golf cart, which then takes the bumpy, partly gravelly road from the reception area to the packed tasting room. At Lafite, you check in, then a quick “Five people OK” comes over the walkie-talkie and, in a flash, you’re in the large tasting hall in very pleasant conditions. What you can’t know beforehand is that you’ll have a wine of the century in your glass. And a particularly refined one… 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot. (The Cabernet Franc and the Petit Verdot were declassified.) Deep purple-garnet, dense at the core, with lilac hues at the rim. The bouquet shows a wonderful, delicate and intoxicating sweetness: caramel, sandalwood, candied cake fruits. On the second nose it reveals a perfumed damassine-plum play and the finest notes of fresh thyme, mint and dried kitchen herbs. On the palate, nonchalant, conveying a very rich yet exquisitely fine astringency. The balance is regal and every element is in its right place. The opposite of a bulldozer, showing a dancing, almost playful grand vin. And that is exactly what Lafite can be sometimes. This will be a delicacy akin to the 1953 at its best.

(91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot) Deep, dense, complex bouquet of black fruits, with fine notes of plum, black cassis, Black Currant, tobacco, mahogany, and a hint of licorice. Elegant, concentrated, multi‑layered, aromatic palate with a tightly woven, elegant, finely muscled structure, dense dark fruit, plenty of very fine tannins, concentrated and varied aromatics, and a very long, dense, fresh finish. This is not an opulent, powerful Lafite; it is perfection in elegance, reminiscent of the 1953. 20/20 2025 - 2050

A softly fragrant Lafite that is delicate and finessed, hiding its concentration under a slow build through the palate. Fragrant, lace-like tannins, cassis, bilberry, crayon, cigar box, showcasing the way to weave through this ripe vintage while holding on to signature nuance. This is a Lafite that will grow into gulpable drinkability with another decade in bottle, and is already gorgeous, pure estate signature. If you are looking for a 2015 that is exuberant and overripe, look elsewhere.

A blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot, the 2015 Lafite Rothschild has a medium to deep garnet color. It is a little subdued and broody to begin, soon unfurling to offer notes of kirsch, ripe blackberries, and blackcurrant pastilles, plus hints of damp soil, bay leaves, black truffles, and iron ore. The light-bodied palate is fantastically light on its feet, delivering a racy line of freshness to the delicate black fruit and earthy layers, supported by finely pixilated tannins, finishing long and savory.

Generous and complex, but with a touch of softness mid-palate. It did firm up after bottling. It still needs time.

The comparison between the incredible 2015 and 2016 is beginning to deliver its verdict. Against a superb 2015—powerful, rich and broad, with remarkable structure—2016 asserts an even higher level of class.

Purple with violet highlights. Complex, filigreed bouquet. Such finesse of fruit and precision. Notes of red berries, licorice, and plenty of freshness. Pleasant spicy touch with thyme. Lush, elegant attack. On the palate, the wine reveals itself slowly. It has perfectly integrated, powerful tannins in symbiosis with a structure that ideally supports the aromatic character. There is flesh, perfect balance, and fine-grained tannins. A great Lafite that combines power and finesse and has a long future ahead.

The nose is fruity, indulgent and elegant. It reveals notes of blackberry and violet, combined with fine hints of blueberry and butter, along with a touch of blond tobacco and a discreet hint of Zan. The palate is fruity, mineral, elegant, finely tight, offering lovely freshness, juiciness, tension, a silky texture, some fat, smoothness, concentration, attractive density and a fine grain. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of blackberry and fresh blueberry and, more slightly, plum, with discreet notes of black cherry, zan, toast, as well as a subtle note of sweet spices and a hint of caramel. The tannins are fine and elegant. Good length and persistence.

Intense, bright, beautiful color. Fruity, discreet nose. Lively. A delicately pulpy entry on the palate. A melting, graceful, juicy, and flavorful development. The wine fills out on the finish with a slightly lively, fresh touch, but without any sharp edges. Blend: 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot. Alcohol: 12.7% - pH: 3.7 – Selection: 40% of the harvest.

95–97. Barrel Sample. Almost entirely Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a seriously structured wine. It has dense tannins that dominate the potential fruits with their firm, never hard touch. The fresh character of the fruits is just beginning to show in a wine that will develop slowly.