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Lafite Rothschild 1999

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Lafite Rothschild

Label

Tasting Notes

The 1999 Lafite Rochschild sports an engraved "1999" on the bottle along with an eclipse to mark that significant histoircal event of August 1999. A quintessential offering from Lafite Rothschild, this prodigious wine is both elegant and intensely flavoured and almost diaphanous in its layers that unfold with no heaviness. An opaue ruby/purple colour is accompanied by a complex bouquet of lead pencil, graphite, cedar, crème de cassis, toast, and vanilla. Medium bodied with extravagant layers of richness yet little weight and a finish that is all sweetness, ripeness, and harmony, this extroadinary Lafite increasingly appears to be amodern day clone of the majestic 1953. A mere one-third of the crop made it into the grand vin!Anticipated maturity:2007-2030

95
Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (4), December 2003

The 1999 Lafite Rothschild is entering adolescence and beginning to show very well after an hour in the decanter. Offering up aromas of rich dark fruit mingled with cigar box, loamy soil, spices and subtle animal top notes. Medium to full-bodied, muscular and concentrated for the vintage, with lively acids and still rather youthfully assertive tannins, it's a fine effort that would rate higher if it displayed greater aromatic purity. 2009 - 2039

93
William Kelley, Wine Advocate (259), February 2022

complex aromas of blackberries, tobacco, spices and black licorice are alluring in this full bodied claret, with a solid core of fruit and silky tannins. Long caressing finish. Superfine, well structred. Wine of the vintage. Best after 2006.

James Suckling, Wine Spectator (31/3/2), March 2002

Transparent and lively. Fresh, appetising and already swallowable. So direct and frank! This is not one of Lafite's finest, most intense productions but it's well balanced and racy. Drink 2010-2025. Date tasted 25th June 09.

18
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (18 Sep 09), September 2009

In our tastings Lafite was the best of the 1998 First growths and many commentators reckon that they have done it again in 1999. The wine is beautifully balanced with warm redcurrant and cranberry fruit and touches of exotic spices. Very classy and polished, Charles Chevalier has extracted beautiful ripeness.

95
Farr Vintners, June 2000
19/25
Andrew Jefford, Decanter.com (Jun 2000), June 2000
Read more tasting notes...
95
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (140), April 2002

A great effort for the vintage, the 1999 possesses an open-knit, friendly, with sweet tannin, low acidity, and plump, corpulent, earthy, black fruit notes intertwined with a touch of pain grille and berries. The wine is opulent and pure, with a sensational mid-palate as well as 35+ second finish. This wine will be approachable upon release, yet will last 25 or more years. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2025.

93/95
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (134), April 2001

The 1999 Lafite (74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18.5% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 1.5% Petit Verdot) reveals the characteristics of a hot growing season. It possesses what I call concentrated finesse. The bouquet offers up aromas of lead pencil, black fruits, vanilla, and minerals. Rich yet suave, gloriously precise, and ethereal in its nicely-layered texture that floats across the palate without any heaviness, this deep, medium-bodied, impressively-endowed Lafite-Rothschild should be one of the few Lafites that can be drunk early in life. It possesses the requisite stuffing, power, and extract level to evolve for 20 or more years. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2020+.

92/94+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (128), April 2000
95
James Suckling, Wine Spectator (Mar 2002), March 2002
90/94
James Suckling, Wine Spectator
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.