Château Lafite Rothschild, 1er Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2021

Name: Château Lafite Rothschild, 1er Cru Classé, Pauillac
Brand: Château Lafite Rothschild
Price: 2300.09 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

The 2021 Lafite is a superb wine, which pays homage to the legendary 1996. A very serious, rather introspective aromatic profile with suggestions of soy, gravelly cassis, violets, noble spice and sandalwood. Complex, fine boned and relatively impenetrable initially. There's an aloofness and nobility here. Beams of minerality, very backward fruit, yet it has clarity and translucence. Full of energy and tension, this glitters in a reserved fashion. Tightly wound, but it's all there, enveloped in profound, aristocratic tannins. A breath-taking Lafite. 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot.

critic reviews

95/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

A blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2021 Lafite Rothschild has a deep garnet-purple color. Notes of ripe blackcurrants, Morello cherries, and fresh redcurrants prance from the glass, followed by perfumed wafts of lilacs, jasmine tea, fallen leaves, and aniseed, with a waft of rose bud tea. The light-bodied palate vibrates with electric black and red berry flavors, matched by the typically super-fine-grained Lafite tannins and a racy backbone, finishing long and fragrant. This is very pretty.

DRINKING WINDOW 2029 - 2063

date of review 04/2024

96/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

One of the wines of the vintage, as it was En Primeur, and delivers grip and character, laced with slate, graceful cool blue and black fruit. Finessed tannins opens to show waves of sage, liqourice root, cloves and forest floor. Almost entirely Cabernet Sauvignon, with the Petit Verdot slice from 100 year old grapes. 34hl/h yield, harvest September 22 to October 8, 90% new oak for ageing. A long-ageing wine within the context of the vintage, and a reminder that this is a wine that takes all kind of weather conditions in its stride. 1st year organic conversion.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2041

date of review 04/2024

95/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2021 Lafite-Rothschild is driven by the Cabernet Sauvignon, as you would expect with 96% in the blend. Blackberry, cigar box and touches of gravel are entwined with the fruit— linear and quintessentially Lafite. The palate is medium-bodied with chiseled tannins. It's a growing season that suits the style of Lafite-Rothschild, classically built and not austere because there is fine depth and weight, but there is a sense of paradoxical weightlessness and a dash of cracked black pepper on the finish. Excellent.

DRINKING WINDOW 2030 - 2070

date of review 02/2024

96+/100William Kelley,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

To my palate, the 2021 Lafite Rothschild has emerged as the finest of the Pauillac first growths this year. Wafting from the glass with aromas of dark minty berries mingled with notions of iris, licorice and cigar box, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a velvety attack that segues into an elegantly dense and structured mid-palate that's nicely framed by sweet but abundant tannins, concluding with a long, penetrating finish.

DRINKING WINDOW 2031 - 2065

date of review 02/2024