Château Lafite Rothschild, 1er Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2018

Name: Château Lafite Rothschild, 1er Cru Classé, Pauillac
Brand: Château Lafite Rothschild
Price: 5061.53 GBP

Available Vintages

all 1994 1995 1996 2000 2002 2007 2009 2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2020 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

Jean Guillaume Prats is already making his mark at Domaine Barons de Rothschild. After a series of slightly lacklustre wines, Lafite and co are back firing on all cylinders. Those who have perused our notes for Carruades and Duhart Milon will know that we are back in love with the DBR wines, and the flag bearer, Chateau Lafite more than confirmed the resurgence of these properties. This is a grand and cerebral Lafite, and arguably the best of the First Growths. Initially inaccessible, with air the regal bouquet begins to emerge. It's all present, but rather impenetrable. It's a noble melting pot of violets, molten metals, sumptuous cool cassis, spice and sweet detailed strawberries. Immensely handsome and aloof, you immediately sense the class. On the palate there is tremendous restraint. Yes, this is a giant of a wine with huge concentration and energy, yet it retains a calm authority, beautifully layered fruit, precise, fine grained tannins, nuanced with vibrant fruit and stones. Those tannins really caress the palate and allow the noble gravelly flavours to linger effortlessly in the mouth. A magnificent Lafite. 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot.

critic reviews

100/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

The 2018 Lafite Rothschild is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs a little swirling to unlock notes of baked plums, boysenberry preserves, and crème de cassis, with touches of menthol, Indian spices and smoked meats. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers mouth-filling, spicy black fruits with velvety tannins and a long, energetic finish.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2068

date of review 02/2023

98/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Silky and powerful, carefully delineated cassis and blueberry fruits, along with slate and liqourice. The tannins are in evidence but already showing a creaminess that cradles the fruit through the mid palate. I said this during En Primeur and during the first round of in bottle tastings, but this wine is remarkable for remaining so balanced and steady in a vintage that saw many neighbouring estates affected by the dry summer. Here instead you get floral aromatics with hints of raspberry leaf and honeysuckle, along with the classic graphite smoke. Muscular with coiled power, undoubtedly it will close down over the next five years, and then need a good decade to open back up. 3.75pH. 40hl/ha yield. 40% of the production went into the grand vin. Tannin index 74IPT. Retasted at an estate vertical July 2021.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2050

date of review 10/2021

100/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2018 Lafite Rothschild is blended of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot and has 13.3% alcohol. Deep purple-black in color, it needs a fair bit of swirling to unlock intoxicating scents of blackcurrant cordial, baked plums and black cherry compote with an undercurrent of dark chocolate, licorice, cast-iron pan, cedar chest and fertile loam, plus a waft of pencil lead. The delicately crafted, medium-bodied palate is dripping with class, featuring layers of mineral-laced black fruits and exquisitely ripe, singularly Lafite tannins, finishing with epic length and depth. This simply stunning, delicately crafted expression of 2018 with its singularly evocative imprint of Lafite will require a good 7-8 years in bottle, then should continue to inspire awe over the following 40+ years.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2068

date of review 03/2021

96/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2018 Lafite-Rothschild comes in an embossed bottle to celebrate 150 years of ownership by the de Rothschild family. Typical of this First Growth, there is nothing gaudy or showy on the nose; instead, sensual, almost placid aromas of tobacco and pencil-shaving-tinged black fruit unfold gently in the glass. Less extroverted than the 2018 Mouton, this is sophisticated and cerebral. As I found before, it only gains vigor after 60 minutes. The palate is beautifully balanced with finely chiseled tannins, pure black fruit and those traits of cracked black pepper and sage extant. I once thought it might challenge the 2016 with bottle age, and though I feel that the 2018 is not quite at that level, it is certainly a wine befitting the anniversary. Lafite-Rothschild, masterfully proving how less is more.

DRINKING WINDOW 2025 - 2060

date of review 03/2021