| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Estèphe |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
The 2009 Lafon-Rochet feels just a little pinched at first, but it soon opens with blackberry, bilberry, cedar and antique armchair aromas. Very fine delineation here. The palate is medium-bodied with supple and very fine tannin, pure black fruit laced with cedar and black pepper, segueing into a slightly earthy but persistent finish. Maybe it just needs a little more grip but otherwise this is a great Lafon-Rochet from Basile Tesseron. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting. 2021 - 2040
This wine seems to be one of the few that has not yet recovered from bottling. In a somewhat monolithic, latched-down style, it has plenty of stuffing, lots of structure and an impressive dark ruby/purple color, but it is very hard to coax from the glass. It is a rather classic St.-Estephe made by the Tesseron family, with its distinctive blood orange label, but this wine seems to beg for another 5-7 years of bottle age. The final blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc has some impressive fruit, but the wine just seems slightly more clipped and narrow than I remember it from barrel. Hopefully, time will mellow out this impression. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2035.
Currant and spices on the nose follow through to a medium body, with fine tannins and a medium finish. Solid structure.
Very dark. A slightly burnt note. Very much taken to the limit. A bit awkward in terms of tannins but with refreshment. Date tasted 1st April 2010. Drink 2018-2028.
Recent vintages here at this classed growth St Estephe have been amongst the best ever and now the latest generation of the family - Basile Tesseron - has become involved with the management. Consultant oenologist and a professor of Bordeaux university, Denis Dubourdieu has been brought in to consult on vineyard management and wine-making. This striking property with its yellow walls is just along the road from Cos d'Estournel and overlooks the vineyards of Lafite. En primeur prices remain reasonable. The percentage of Merlot in the vineyard here must be the highest in St Estephe - 50%, with 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. However, the Tesserons made the brave (and expensive) decision to relegate much of the Merlot into the second wine and the final blend of the grand vin includes 64% Cabernet Sauvignon. Good flesh here balanced with classic Medocain structure and tannin. A really dense core of black fruit enveloped by some silk and cream. Strong, powerful, serious and classic. Very fine indeed and without doubt the potential to become the best Lafon Rochet ever.
There is a lovely fragrance on the nose flowers and wood smoke. The freshness of cherry is apparent at the start but then richer bramble and cassis win through filling out mid and back palate. Drink 2020-2040.
Black red, colour sticks to the glass, big smoky Cabernet cassis nose, excellent natural concentration, intense yet lifted fruit, lots of succulence and lots of grip, a really well-expressed, well-made wine with a very good future. Drink 2015-30.
Perhaps the finest Lafon Rochet ever made, the purity, freshness, and sweet, rich, blueberry and boysenberry fruit and hint of pen ink that are found in this opaque purple-colored wine are impressive. Massive in the mouth, with freshness, delineation, and sweet tannin, it is a major sleeper of the vintage that should last for 25+ years. (Tasted two times.) Drink 2010-2035.
Robert Parker added an asterisk to this wine score to signify that it is a wine he considers has the finest potential of all the offerings he has ever tasted from this estate in nearly 32 years of barrel tasting samples in Bordeaux.
A sample taken on 23rd March tasted at the property. A blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% vin de presse, a pH of 3.65 and alcohol 13.5% with 50% matured in new oak. This has a tightly wound that unfurls nicely over 15 minutes, a nice minerality here, really exposed at the moment. Blackberry, a touch of raspberry, wild hedgerow, very pure and refined. The palate is medium-bodied, firm tannins, quite tight at the moment, very focused, gentle grip, and racy acidity towards the finish. Very Cabernet dominated finish, more structure than usual thanks to the higher percentage, perhaps just needing to flesh out on the finish, although that should come with extended barrel ageing. (N.B. A second sample at a negoçiant showed more flesh and suppleness towards the finish). Tasted March 2010.
