Château Lafite-Rothschild 2017 (Pre-Arrival)

• Domaine: Château Lafite-Rothschild
• Appellation: Pauillac
• Classification: First Growth, 1èr Grand Cru Classé
• Origin: Left Bank, Bordeaux, France
• Importer: Laguna Cellar

Wine Notes: Château Lafite-Rothschild is now considered one of the greatest Bordeaux wine estates.  It was Originlly simply known as Château Lafite when listed among the Premier Grand Cru Classé in 1855.  Lafite, comes from Gascon term "la hite", which meant "small hill".  On 8 August 1868, Baron James Mayer Rothschild purchased the property for 4.4 million francs, and it became known as Château Lafite Rothschild.  During his term as the ambassador to France, Thomas Jefferson visited this estate and became a lifelong customer.

Tasting Notes

"During en primeur, the 2017 Lafite-Rothschild was one of the most impressive wines of the Left Bank. Today, it is equally impressive. An ample, richly constituted wine, the 2017 is an unusually dark, somber Lafite, with a percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon that is among the highest ever here. There is a sort of monastic sense of austerity that gives the wine its impression of reserve. Dark cherry, plum, chocolate, licorice, spice and menthol develop in the glass, but it will be many years before it awakens. Readers will have to be patient but there is a lot to look forward to here. Like many of his colleagues, Technical Director Eric Kohler opted for gentle extractions and incorporated a relatively high amount of press wine (16%) into the blend. Those are merely details, though, because the 2017 Lafite is stellar." - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com (March 2020),  Rating: 96+, Drink: 2027-2057

"Composed of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon with 3.5% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot, the deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Lafite Rothschild is a little shy on the nose to begin, opening out to scents of crushed blackcurrants, black cherries and warm black plums with touches of yeast extract, charcuterie, cigar box and fertile loam plus a hint of iron ore. POW—the paradoxically ethereal, medium-bodied palate hits you with vibrant, exhilarating black fruit and previously latent floral layers, supported with fantastic freshness and super fine-grained, pixelated tannins, finishing with persistent mineral and perfumed layers. Truly. Stunning." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (4/27/2018, Issue 236), Rating: 97-99