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Neal Martin, April 2024, Score: 95-97
The 2023 Lafite-Rothschild was picked September 7 to 29 at 45hL/ha and matured in 90% new oak. This is more discrete on the nose—one of the tropes of this First Growth—even when compared to the more immediate Carruades. This takes time to unfurl in the glass, slowly revealing black fruit laced with pencil box and just a touch of pressed violet. There’s wonderful precision here. The palate is medium-bodied with a cashmere texture, very pure (again) with a judicious dab of cracked black pepper. The finish is very sleek, thanks to its almost filigree tannins, seeming to glide across the palate. It's not a grippy or sinewy Pauillac, and on reflection, it is technically perfect. Yet, I find myself searching for a bit more…soul. Perhaps a few rough edges would captivate the emotions. This is a delicious Lafite-Rothschild no doubt, but I want it to move me once in bottle. Maybe it will. Drink 2030-2070.
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Antonio Galloni, April 2024, Score: 95-98
The 2023 Lafite-Rothschild races out of the glass with notable textural intensity. Explosive and deep, with striking balance, Lafite dazzles in this vintage. The 2023 is a somber, virile Lafite endowed with remarkable depth and tons of sheer character. Plum, blackberry, gravel, pencil shavings, graphite, mocha and lavender build into the intense, palate-staining finish. The blend is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot. Drink 2023-2073.
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Wine Advocate, April 2024, Score: 97-99
The finest of the first growths this year appears to be the 2023 Lafite Rothschild, a terrific effort that unwinds in the glass with deep and incipiently complex aromas of cassis, pencil shavings, lilac and violets mingled with hints of cigar wrapper and mint. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it's vibrant and refined, with a deep core of fruit, plenty of sweet structuring tannin and a compelling marriage between energy and plenitude. It's a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot that reminds me of 2019's tannins combined with 2016's unimpeachable classicism.
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James Suckling, April 2024, Score: 97-98
The purity of cabernet sauvignon is so evident here. It mesmerizes you with aromas of black and red currants, cedar, tobacco and bark. It's full-bodied yet there's very impressive weightlessness and agility, as well as subtlety and focus. Some iron and terra-cotta. Cedar and sandalwood undertones. Juicy and plummy at the end. 12.9% alcohol. 3.75 pH. A blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot.
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Goedhuis Waddesdon, April 2024, Score: 98-99
Important to be impartial and put aside my natural affection for our new partner’s famed First Growth, I was determined to put it under even greater scrutiny than ever. In truth I failed on all accounts! It just filled me with excitement in every way, typifying what really was achievable in 2023 despite the challenges nature gave. Saskia de Rothschild describes her Lafite as the “Balance of Two Powers”, in other words, a combination of discretion and depth. The strength and quality of the Cabernet Sauvignon is so very apparent, contributing 93% of the blend. Dark Morello cherry, blackcurrant, cedar and nutmeg bouquet. The opening salvo is remarkably generous; uncharacteristic boldness, a voluminous richness and sweet generosity precede the discreet mid-palate. The poised, layered flavours of cassis, mocha and fresh tobacco leaf belie the subtlety and finesse of the tannic core, which sits quietly beneath the fruit. It just keeps evolving on the finish and sits at the very top of its class.
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Jane Anson, April 2024, Score: 98-100
This hits you right off the first nose, driven by slate and crushed rocks, setting the tone and the architecture, guiding the fruit through the palate. Cassis, bilberry, tobacco leaf, graphite, crushed mint, finessed and sculpted, this is a gorgeous Lafite, with fine tannins and the squid ink character that seems to be present in all of this stable of wines except Moulin de Duhart. Hidden power, where nothing is too much and yet everything is concentrated, once again proving that the terroir at this particular spot has its own personality that stands out every year. High Cabernet as ever, combined with around 15% press wine. Not the concentration of 2022, but in many ways showcasing the essence of Lafite more squarely, and this will delight anyone lucky enough to own it in future years.
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LPB, April 2024, Score: 97-99
The 2023 Lafite Rothschild is deep garnet-purple in color. After a little swirling, wonderfully pure notes of boysenberries, wild blueberries, and blackcurrants emerge from the glass, followed by hints of violets, dark chocolate, licorice, and fertile loam with a hint of black truffle. The light to medium-bodied palate delivers electric sparks of vibrant black berry and mineral flavors framed by super-ripe, fine-grained tannins and great tension, finishing long and shimmery. A wine that is so, so cerebral, this is a vintage well played by Lafite. The blend is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot, with pH 3.76, and an alcohol of just 12.9%.