2009 Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux

The 2009 Lafite-Rothschild is quite high-toned and expressive on the nose, perhaps the most ostentatious of the top flight 2009s with upfront black cherry and boysenberry fruit, lavish new oak and touches of violet. 

The palate is sleek and satin-like in feel with copious dark cherry and boysenberry fruit, fig and dates, almost honeyed in texture towards the precocious finish that has an opulent bent, almost hedonistic, unusual for this First Growth. But it is kinda irresistible. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.

Drink 2020 - 2050

The deep garnet-coloured 2009 Lafite Rothschild bursts from the glass with red and black currant preserves, warm plums, mulberries and kirsch scents, plus suggestions of sweaty leather, cigar box and menthol. It is medium-bodied, elegant and firmly structured, and has wonderful freshness and a long earthy/meaty finish.

Drink 2019 - 2049

It displays, as Lafite always does, more of a laid-back elegance than Latour, and the difference between the two once again highlights the huge differences in terroir between north and south Pauillac, with the deep gravels here giving finesse, composure, and almost nonchalance. 

It tames with a whisper, bringing you to submission by gently, purposefully and slowly layering one thing on top of another. It has gorgeously pure and precise fruit on the nose, while the palate displays many flavours, from charcoal to cassis to crushed stone, yet no one dominates. 

There are a ton of tannins, but they are individually fine, and it's only in retrospect that you realise how many of them there are. The tone of Lafite is speaking over the vintage, and it's going to run and run.

Drink 2024 - 2046

This wine is stunningly impressive but almost the opposite of the 2010 vintage. The year offered a warm, wet spring followed by a hot, dry summer and cool nights in September, giving a riper, more generous impression. A bit of smoke and spice on the initial attack with a ripe, plummy fruit character that is more black than red and a supple, dense richness on the palate that lingers sumptuously on the finish. 

This vintage will drink sooner than the 2010, yet it should easily last as long. The finished wine blends 82.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and a half-per-cent Petit Verdot. Picking began in mid-September for the Merlot and early October for the Cabernet, with 45% of the fruit going into the grand vin.

Drink 2032 - 2082