chateau lafite rothschild 1er cru classe pauillac

Château Lafite Rothschild, 1er Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2005

Name: Château Lafite Rothschild, 1er Cru Classé, Pauillac
Brand: Château Lafite Rothschild
Price: 7649.47 GBP

98/100

Inside Bordeaux

96/100

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

95/100

The Wine Independent

97/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

all 1982 1986 1995 1996 2004 2005 2007 2009 2010 2015 2016 2018 2022 2023 2024

delivery

in bond

Broking

2005
12x75cl
DP
£7,649.47

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

At almost 90%, this wine has the highest Cabernet Sauvignon content of any of the First Growths and was therefore bound to be a big wine. However, despite expectations that Lafite would favour elegance over power, we were overwhelmed by the sensational fusion of both beauty and strength. So overwhelmed, in fact, that our normal tasting vocabulary was at a loss to describe fully the impact this wine had on us and it was easier, in fact, to resort to musical simile. Like a great overture, tasting Lafite 2005 en primeur begins quietly and builds gradually and logically, hinting at all the key elements of the story that will appear in the glass when the wine is mature: its purity and silky texture; blackberry, blueberry, minerals and smoky oak aromas. An undercurrent of great, restrained passion runs through this wine, one that builds and builds to a crescendo that, although exhilarating now, is only a faint precursor of what is to come when the wine finally matures and that all these elements eventually blossom. This is a rare and remarkable creation, so be sure to book your tickets for the opening night well in advance!

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GUARANTEED PROVENANCE

Provenance in fine wine

When it comes to purchasing wine, provenance is of upmost importance. A wine’s history – where it’s sourced from and how it’s been stored – can have an enormous influence on the eventual enjoyment it provides. At Justerini & Brooks, we can trace nearly every case back to the domaine, estate or Château it originally came from; we ship from over 200 wine producers throughout the world.

Wines not bought directly from the vineyard are either sourced from trusted suppliers, with whom we share the same philosophy and rigour in buying, or from our own network of Cellarers customers. These customers’ wines are stored in optimal conditions in Octavian Corsham and, in the vast majority of cases, have been stored by us since the wine was first shipped. We do not purchase wine from auctions.

We feel it is equally important to for our customers that the case they buy and leave in storage with us is exactly the same case they subsequently have delivered. This may sound obvious and straightforward, yet we are one of very few merchants to have taken measures to ensure this.

We have created a system where every case is independent, thereby ensuring a trail of ownership and peace of mind for every customer.

The Journey

Justerinis ensures that every case of wine stored with Cellarers (Wines) Ltd has a unique identifier and customer’s name, almost unheard of in the industry as it is expensive to administer. These details are printed and placed on every case which is logged and recorded under your account name and kept in the world’s most renowned storage facility, Octavian Corsham.

This information is sent from our systems to the warehouse every day to ensure the trail of ownership is verified and upheld.

While customer reserves are stored in Corsham, our physical stocks are kept in Hoddesdon, further providing a geographical separation between customers’ wines with Cellarers and Justerinis’ own stock.

Further Reassurance

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is a legally separate limited company from Justerini & Brooks which currently holds approximately £450 million worth of customer reserves. It is fully insured to catastrophic loss. Many merchants will state that wine in their care is fully insured, but in reality this is on an individual case basis with insufficient cover for total loss as this is prohibitively expensive. The cover provided by Octavian and Justerini & Brooks is unmatched.

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is audited by PwC every year.

Critic Reviews

98/100

Jane Anson,

Inside Bordeaux

Effortless, balanced, fine elongated tannins, mouthwatering and moreish. Walking the tightrope of concentration and uplift, as Lafite does so well, and is a wonderful example of this vintage, still with decades ahead of it, delivering cassis, slate, mint leaf, sea spray, crayon and joy. 100% new oak Ignace-Joseph Vanlerberghe 1855, Baron Joseph 1868, scales on the bottle. Charles Chevallier technical director for this 2005 vintage, in the last year with Emile Peynaud as consultant. 43hl/h yield.

drinking window 2025 - 2048

date of review 06/2025

95/100

Lisa Perrotti-Brown,

The Wine Independent

The 2005 Lafite is a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Merlot. Deep garnet-brick in color, it slips sensuously from the glass with eager-to-please scents of creme de cassis, Christmas cake, and cedar chest, giving way to hints of Indian spices, sweaty leather, and pencil shavings. The mineral-laced, medium-bodied palate is elegant and shimmery, delivering firm tannins and a soft-spoken finish. Delivering a mature, wonderfully evocative experience now, it is well within its drinking window and should cellar to 2045+. At this time the estate was managed by Baron Eric de Rothschild and Charles Chevallier was technical director.

drinking window 2022 - 2045

date of review 07/2022

97/100

Antonio Galloni,

Vinous

The 2005 Lafite-Rothschild is a gorgeous wine, but it is also very young. Readers lucky enough to own it will find a very classic, gracious Lafite-Rothschild that still needs a few years to be at its best. Bright red-toned fruit, crushed rocks, mint and licorice open first, followed by darker aromas and flavors that develop as the wine gains volume with air. Tasted next to its peers, Lafite is so typical of itself and less marked by the year. And that is one of the signs of a truly great terroir. Lafite-Rothschild is not as showy as many other wines in this vintage, but it is so true to its own identity, and that is the highest compliment I can pay it. The 2005 is 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, done in 100% new oak, which is not at all noticeable. At the time, the Cabernet percentage was quite high, but that has now become the norm. Tasted two times.

drinking window 2025 - 2055

date of review 04/2021

96/100

Neal Martin,

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Having tasted the 2005 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild several times both blind and non-blind, it comes across as a First Growth politely requesting more time to "settle". Here, from an ex-chateau bottle tasted in Bordeaux, it delivers that graphite, pencil-box bouquet that unfurls gradually in the glass, biding its time, graceful but not intense. Parallel to some of its fellow 2005s, it is developing a little more spice, namely thyme and sage, than I recall. The palate is medium-bodied and beautifully balanced, to wit, a sophisticated Pauillac that priorities elegance and poise over intensity of fruitin keeping with Lafite Rothschild's style. You come away with the sense that it will take its time and decline, giving away a great deal in its primacy, even if it is still more approachable than the 2005 Latour for example. Therefore, I would be inclined to set this aside for several more years. Tasted November 2014.

drinking window 2022 - 2050

date of review 07/2016

product details

Specifications

Country:

France

Region:

Bordeaux

Appellation:

Pauillac

Producer:

Château Lafite Rothschild

style:

Red Wine

Grape Variety:

Cab Sauvignon Merlot

abv:

13%

allergen information

This product may contain sulphites. Full allergen information is available upon request, please call our Customer Relations Team on +44 (0)20 7484 6430.