2023 Chateau Lafite Rothschild - 1er Grand Cru Classe Pauillac

Decanter.com – 98 pts – GH: *A clear contender for wine of the vintage. Deep, purple colour on the rim. Some soft herbal and floral aromatics, milk chocolate. A real sense of understated power as Lafite does so well. Not so demonstrative at all, but there’s a gorgeous charming delicacy to this - fine powdery blue fruit tannins with edges of liquorice and slate. Smooth and supple, excellent weight in the mouth, light and streamlined, less overt acidity and brightness than Carruades, but still with a mouthwatering centre that gives strawberry and cherry fruit flavours. Ends with subtle graphite and wet stone, long and lingering though. Just delightful, so elegant and finessed. You can feel the density on the finish, the slight weight of the tannins comes at the end, bringing a controlled and quiet power. I love the sense of ease and seamlessness about this wine, it just slips down. 1% of very old Petit Verdot went into the blend this year. 15% press. 3.8pH. 38% grand vin production. Ageing 90% new oak. A potential 100-point wine.* - 04/2024

Falstaff Magazin – 98 pts – PM: *Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Attraktive Cassis, Brombeeren, zart nach Lakritze, ein Hauch von Edelholz, mineralisch unterlegt. Kraftvoll, straff, lebendig, frische rote Herzkirschen, perfekt reife Tannine, mineralisch und sehr lange anhaftend, ungemein elegant und präzise, minutenlang anhaftend, hat große Klasse. Das ist der Stil, der Bordeaux groß gemacht hat, mit Charme und Energie, mit Kraft und großem Potenzial.* - 05/2024

Vinum Magazin – 99/100 pts: *Tiefgründig, Noblesse pur, komplex im Aromenspektrum, klar definiert am Gaumen, diskreter Auftakt, baut aus, zeigt Druck und eine beeindruckende Eleganz. Tänzerisch, verspielt, dabei seriös, endlos lang. Sehr Lafite. Wird in jeder Phase seines Lebens Spass machen.*

JancisRobinson.com – 18/20pts – JL: *93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot. 44 hl/ha. Cask sample. As always, elegant and refined. Fragrant nose and fine, filigree tannins. Really quite mellow but freshness and length on the finish. Like a delicate piece of porcelain though the structure is there.* - 04/2024

Vinous.com – (95-98) pts – AG: *The 2023 Lafite-Rothschild races out of the glass with notable textural intensity. Explosive and deep, with striking balance, Lafite dazzles in this vintage. The 2023 is a somber, virile Lafite endowed with remarkable depth and tons of sheer character. Plum, blackberry, gravel, pencil shavings, graphite, mocha and lavender build into the intense, palate-staining finish. The blend is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot.* - 04/2024

Vinous.com – (95-97) pts – NM: *The 2023 Lafite-Rothschild was picked September 7 to 29 at 45hL/ha and matured in 90% new oak. This is more discrete on the nose—one of the tropes of this First Growth—even when compared to the more immediate Carruades. This takes time to unfurl in the glass, slowly revealing black fruit laced with pencil box and just a touch of pressed violet. There’s wonderful precision here. The palate is medium-bodied with a cashmere texture, very pure (again) with a judicious dab of cracked black pepper. The finish is very sleek, thanks to its almost filigree tannins, seeming to glide across the palate. It's not a grippy or sinewy Pauillac, and on reflection, it is technically perfect. Yet, I find myself searching for a bit more…soul. Perhaps a few rough edges would captivate the emotions. This is a delicious Lafite-Rothschild no doubt, but I want it to move me once in bottle. Maybe it will.* - 04/2024

Thewinecellarinsider.com – (96-98) pts – JL: *Richly colored, with a complex aromatic profile offering flowers, spices, cedar, cigar wrapper, lead pencil, creme de cassis, and blackberries. The wine rapidly focuses on its layers of energetic, red with black fruits There is a polished, character here. Texturally, this is elegant, and racy, with length, purity, and most importantly, charm. finishing with seamless, gentle waves of creme de cassis. The wine blends 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. 15% press wine. 12.9% ABV, 3.78 pH. Harvesting started September 7 for the young Merlot vines, finishing September 29. The key to the success this year was controlling mildew pressure, and finding the optimum picking dates. 38% of the harvest went into the Grand Vin. Drink from 2030-2065.* - 05/2024