Chateau Lafite Rothschild (Futures Pre-Sale) 2023

Professional Ratings

• 99 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  The finest of the first growths this year appears to be the 2023 Lafite Rothschild, a terrific effort that unwinds in the glass with deep and incipiently complex aromas of cassis, pencil shavings, lilac and violets mingled with hints of cigar wrapper and mint. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it's vibrant and refined, with a deep core of fruit, plenty of sweet structuring tannin and a compelling marriage between energy and plenitude. It's a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot that reminds me of 2019's tannins combined with 2016's unimpeachable classicism.
  Barrel Sample: 97-99
• 98 James Suckling
  The purity of cabernet sauvignon is so evident here. It mesmerizes you with aromas of black and red currants, cedar, tobacco and bark. It's full-bodied yet there's very impressive weightlessness and agility, as well as subtlety and focus. Some iron and terra-cotta. Cedar and sandalwood undertones. Juicy and plummy at the end. 12.9% alcohol. 3.75 pH. A blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot.
  Barrel Sample: 97-98
• 98 Vinous
  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. –Antonio Galloni
  Barrel Sample: 95-98
• 98 Decanter
  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.
  Barrel Sample: 98
• 97 Jeb Dunnuck
  The 2023 Château Lafite-Rothschild is based on 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot, resting in 90% new French oak, with the balance in once-used barrels. It's another deeply hued barrel sample that has thrilling (and classic Lafite) aromatics of darker currants, freshly sharpened pencils, leather, flowers, and graphite. These all carry over to the palate, where the wine is medium to full-bodied and has a seamless, layered, elegant mouthfeel and ultra-fine tannins. I don’t see it hitting the heights of the 2018, 2019, or 2020, but it's an incredible wine in the vintage and is going to be an ultra-classic beauty from this château that will evolve for decades. The alcohol is a respectable 12.9% and the pH is 3.78. (Lafite always tends to have a higher pH.)
  Barrel Sample: 95-97