If we thought the stars had aligned for the new team at Lafite with their exceptional 2018, this year it feels like they’ve crafted something from the very cosmos itself. We’re going out on a limb here, but it might just be the best young Lafite we’ve ever tasted. In his second year at the helm, Jean-Guillaume Prats has overseen the creation of a Grand Vin that should go down in history - and not just because of the events surrounding its release.
Our encounter with the Lafite wines took place at Waddesdon Manor on Tuesday, tasting samples which were jetted in the night before. The conditions could not have been more perfect. In a cool, dark, stone-walled room we lifted Lafite to our noses and what emerged was a perfume of such nobility that it was hard to put down. While demure at first (as is so often the case with this most erudite of First Growths), it wasn’t long before the fine weave of aromatics relaxed enough to reveal a magnificent, compelling, quintessentially Pauillac, aromatic complexity.
Read MoreAs it hit our palates, taut layers of gravelly minerality and exceptionally fine dark berry Cabernet fruit coated the mouth before a final flourish of wildflowers brought a sense of release. The tannins go beyond the normal range of Bordeaux finesse, expressing themselves like a brush with the finest linen, a combination of refinement and strength that is quite extraordinary. As we swirled our glasses, early autumn blackberry notes emerged, providing a sense of lifted freshness as those ultra-fine tannins and savoury, stony, classically Lafite elements propelled the wine across the palate.
For a wine at such a young age to possess the hallmarks of greatness is a precocious skill. To be able to convey it so absolutely, without any need to shout about it, that’s the mark of a truly accomplished First Growth. This appears to be one such wine – a true joy to taste; we can’t recommend it highly enough.
In addition to Lafite, we tasted Duhart Milon, and here too the team seems to have taken a superb 2018, and tweaked the dial for greater focus, freshness and precision. This was, not surprisingly, easier to taste than its stablemate, but still awash with wonderfully grown up Cabernet flavours. Smoky gravel, crushed oyster shells, coriander seed, then pencil shavings and graphite – aristocratic aromatics with dark berry floral fruit below. Structurally this is a picture of suave reserve with impeccably polished tannins that coat the tongue with fine powdery grip while dark Valrhona chocolate, sandalwood and dark berry fruit notes meet a rumbling cascade of smooth river pebbles. This is beautifully tailored, a remarkable Duhart in the making….
Lafite’s sister Château in Pomerol, Château Evangile has also released its 2019. Described as “Tantalizingly moreish” by Lisa Perrotti-Brown of The Wine Advocate, it’s another heady and opulent Pomerol from this biodynamically farmed estate.
The wines listed are abroad and are expected to ship late 2022. Lafite will be on allocation as usual.