A truly great Lafite, and maybe the wine of the vintage, the 2019 Château Lafite-Rothschild reveals a deep purple color as well as an ultra-classic bouquet of crème de cassis, lead pencil, unsmoked tobacco, chocolate, and gravelly minerality. Deep, full-bodied, and flawlessly balanced, it's a magical, heavenly bottle of wine that's going to be approachable with just 5-6 years of bottle age yet evolve for 100 years or more. It reminds me of the 2016, only with a touch more sexiness and opulence. June 2020

Performs the trick of being immediately succulent and mouthwatering while simultaneously revving up and building power through the palate. You're getting sapidity and savoury black fruits that are both elegant and full of power. The spicy rosemary and black pepper, with slate-textured minerality, is almost unnoticeable until it closes in on the final stretch, helping to stretch things out, beat by beat, adding energy and lift. One half of the 5% Merlot in this blend is from plots that have never before been used in Lafite's 1st wine, because their drone and satellite research discovered three tiny areas that were similar in character and could be vinified together. They have worked on this for the past three years, successfully so for first time in 2019. It just holds on tight, with a creaminess that you don't always find in Lafite at this early stage. A brilliant wine, one that could be upscored from this when in bottle. Harvest September 19 to October 7. Drinking Window 2029 - 2048 Jane Anson, June 2020

The 2019 Lafite-Rothschild screams Cabernet Sauvignon on the nose of intense black fruit, graphite and subtle minty aromas, supremely well-defined and revealing a hint of star anise with aeration. The medium-bodied palate is beautifully balanced, offering sappy black fruit, black pepper, graphite and just a touch of spice. This has more body, maybe even a touch more sinew than recent vintages, perhaps because of the reconfiguration of the Merlot parcels (see my note en primeur). Very persistent and almost uncharacteristically grippy on the finish, this is a gifted Lafite-Rothschild that will last 50+ years. It will certainly surpass the 2018 with continued bottle age.

Energy energy energy! This doesn’t feel like a hot year wine at all. Very complete and layered with the sensation of millefeuille - slices of freshness in the form of redcurrant and bright blackcurrant sit between each layer of ripe plum and damson fruit. Savoury notes of exotic spice and a slight smokiness add further complexity. Brilliant precision and purity, bringing a surprising brightness to the party. It’s very different to the 2018 but no less impressive, delicious or serious. A genuinely fantastic wine.

The 2019 Lafite Rothschild is a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, harvested from the 19th of September to the 7th of October. Deep garnet-purple in color, it rolls effortlessly out of the glass with compelling notions of baked black cherries, ripe blackberries and crème de cassis followed by hints of mocha, licorice, smoked meats and Sichuan pepper with a waft of eucalyptus. Medium-bodied, the palate is at once ethereally graceful and powerfully intense, featuring layer upon layer of profound smoky, savory flavors and decadently ripe fruit, framed by exquisite, silt-like tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with epic length. In terms of flavor profile, this is a surprisingly (atypically) hedonic, forward expression, with notably lower acidity/higher pH (the pH is 3.9). The alcohol is 13.4%, just a tick higher than the 2018 (13.3%). And yet, the tannins here are unmistakably Lafite, featuring all the tannic grace, finesse and densely pixilated poise fans will expect. What an exciting paradox for the palate—bravo! Lisa Perrotti Brown, The Wine Advocate, June 2020 /