chateau lafite rothschild 1er cru classe pauillac

Château Lafite Rothschild, 1er Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2009

Name: Château Lafite Rothschild, 1er Cru Classé, Pauillac
Brand: Château Lafite Rothschild
Price: 7459.07 GBP

99/100

Inside Bordeaux

95/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

delivery

in bond

Broking

2009
12x75cl
DP
£7,459.07
2009
12x75cl
DP
£7,483.07

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

Lafite has produced something of a big boy in 2009. Sadly Cabernet yields are low as the berries remained small and thick skinned; wonderful for quality and deep colours, but not for all the collectors desperate to buy this wonderful wine... The bouquet is packed with brooding aromas of minerals, graphite and tar with overtones of ripe cassis and cut violets. There are also touches of cigar box and tobacco before one is almost assaulted by the massively concentrated palate. Initially there is a searing cassis fruit attack with astonishing depth and concentration. A veritable kaleidoscope of flavours, all manner of berries, fruits of the forest, currants, sensual, ripe, supremely complex, mixing brooding savoury flavours of coal, cooked meats and bright fruits. This is ethereal, complex, long-term, with a tannic structure honed from granite. A massive wine, which will require patience. 82.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and just 0.5% Petit Verdot.

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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

99/100

Jane Anson,

Inside Bordeaux

Aromatics curl right out of the glass, with restrained cassis interlaced with sweeter spiced berry fruits, crayon, eucalyptus, wet rocks, peony and classically chiselled tannins. Still young, but already totally delicious. Shows so clearly that balance and understatement don't get in the way of intensity and concentration. Unusual to taste Lafite in a lineup with the other wines of the appellation, making it exceptionally enjoyable to confirm the standout quality of the 2009 vintage here. On a different tier, and one with many decades ahead. 100% new oak.

drinking window 2025 - 2050

date of review 10/2024

95/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

The 2009 Lafite-Rothschild does not quite click into fifth gear on this occasion. It is certainly more classically styled than the bottle shown at Farr's tasting the following week, with cedar and leather aromas, more undergrowth scents than others. The palate is medium-bodied with a smooth sleek texture, not grippy and clearly without Latour's backbone, yet very long with a surprisingly sweet finish. Very fine. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits' Ten Year On tasting.

drinking window 2020 - 2050

date of review 03/2019

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.