Château Lafite Rothschild, 1er Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2024

Name: Château Lafite Rothschild, 1er Cru Classé, Pauillac
Brand: Château Lafite Rothschild
Price: 1713 GBP

Available Vintages

all 1994 1995 1996 2000 2002 2007 2009 2013 2014 2015 2016 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

Dominated by 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, with just 3% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2024 Lafite Rothschild is initially rather unforthcoming. A reserved bouquet hints at cool berry fruit and complex mineral notes; with aeration, it begins to reveal a delicate florality: violets, and roses dashed with graphite and sandalwood. Taut and compact on the palate, the flavours build, revealing blackcurrants, plum, and cherry, alongside a touch of blueberry, then revealing tilled earth, bramble thickets, plus a whisper of peony. Nutmeg and clove mark the finish, accompanied by a touch of cigar box. Another athletic, super-refined Lafite, full of composure and class, finishing with unimpeachable tannins that provide structure and tremendous length. Beautifully reserved.

critic reviews

94-96/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

Deep garnet-purple colored. Has a very perfumed nose of violets, red cherries, and iris, leading to a core of cassis, pencil lead, wild sage, and iron ore with a touch of fertile loam. The light-bodied palate is very light on its feet, issuing a lacy network of elegant red berry and mineral flavors, framed by ripe, fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and perfumed.

DRINKING WINDOW 2029 - 2049

date of review 05/2025

95-97/100Neal Martin,Vinous

According to Technical Director Eric Kohler, the 2024 Lafite-Rothschild was picked from September 23 to October 7 and underwent a short vinification—less than three weeks—plus a gentle extraction. The blend includes 16% <em>vin de presse</em>. It has an understated and typical Lafite nose with crushed stone infusing the black fruit, black olive tapenade and marine scents. It comes across as statesmanlike, which is just how you want your First Growth, even in a tricky vintage like this. The palate is medium-bodied with fresh saline notes on the entry. Tensile from the start, this has very impressive focus and is a tad more peppery than previous vintages. This is an assured Lafite-Rothschild with a very seaweed/Japanese wakame-tinged finish. Very promising and one of the very few "cerebral" Left Bank wines in 2024.

DRINKING WINDOW 2032 - 2058

date of review 05/2025

95/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Rich texture, this stands head and shoulders above many in the vintage, with graphite, crayon, cassis bud rather than exuberant black fruits, this is precise, savoury, delineated, floral, gunsmoke, juicy, captures the effortless elegance that Lafite does so so well, and it totally delivers. Harvest 23 September to 7 October, 32hl/h yield, above the Pauillac average, 16% press wine included in the blend. Director Eric Kohler's 33rd year in Pauillac. I am giving a slightly earlier begin drinking date, but I am certain this will age exceptionally well as Lafite always does. Slightly earlier starting date for drinking than usual, eight years following harvest.

DRINKING WINDOW 2032 - 2050

date of review 04/2025

91-94/100William Kelley,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

A blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2024 Lafite Rothschild offers up aromas of minty blackcurrants, violets, incense, loamy soil and cigar box, followed by a medium-bodied, pillowy and open-knit palate built around tangy acids and powdery tannins, concluding with a discreetly herbal finish. Harvest began on September 24 and concluded on October 4, delivering a Lafite in something of a throwback style, nodding to the wines made here in the 1970s.

date of review 04/2025