2000 | Chateau Lafite Rothschild | Pauillac

The nose is fresh, bright, and dense. With aromas of violets, minerals, spices, cool stones, mint, dark fruits, and plum skins, this is beautiful. Very much still a baby right now, it needs much more time. This is a wine for the next generation. Finesse and elegance, truly a wine that makes you contemplate life.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: Since I gave this wine a perfect score, I suppose some could see this as a downgrade. I found everything still there for a perfect rating, but I was just struck by how tight and backward the wine was. A blend of 93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot, the wine still has a dark ruby/purple color and an extraordinarily youthful nose of graphite, black currants, sweet, unsmoked cigar tobacco, and flowers. The wine is rich, medium to full-bodied, but has that ethereal elegance and purity that is always Lafite.

• Decanter: A baby, still barely evolved at 20 years old, perhaps the slowest out of the block of all Five Firsts at this point in their lives. Savoury black fruits, elegant yet concentrated, extremely Cabernet and extremely Lafite. The power comes slowly, expanding through the palate to show graphite, pencil shavings, cigar smoke, all with firm acidities and a fantastic grip. 46% of the overall crop went into this wine in the 2000 vintage. A brilliant example of the success at Lafite under the longtime triumvirate of owner Baron Éric de Rothschild, CEO Christophe Salin and estate director Charles Chevallier.

Producer Information

Château Lafite Rothschild is a wine estate in the Pauillac region of the Médoc, producing one of the most sought-after and expensive red wines in the world. Lafite Rothschild is known for its perfume, elegance, finesse and harmony, in contrast to the more powerful Latour and Mouton Rothschild. Nevertheless, great vintages can age for 50 years or more. The precise blend of grand vin can vary depending on the vintage. It often contains between 80-95 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot making up much of the rest. In the winery, each plot of grapes is kept seperate for the fermentation to preserve their terroir and allow for maximum control at blending. The wine is aged for up to 20 months in new oak barrels. Carruades de Lafite is the second wine, with a strong following in its own right. More Merlot (30-50 percent) appears in the final blend. It is aged for 18-20 months, with 80 percent in barrels and 20 percent in tank. The Lafite Rothschild vineyard covers around 112 hectares (277 acres) on sunny, well-drained sites made up of fine gravel and sand over limestone subsoil. The vineyard is divided into three parts: the vines on the hillsides around the château provide the core material for the grand vin, while the adjacent Carruades plateau to the west is more responsible for the second wine that bears its name. Additionally a 4.5ha (11 acre) plot in Saint-Estèphe also belongs to the estate; unusually it has permission to include the fruit in its Pauillac-classified wines. Around 70 percent of the vineyards are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, with 25 percent to Merlot, 3 percent to Cabernet Franc and 2 percent to Petit Verdot. The average age of the vines is 40 years old. The neighboring property Duhart-Milon is under the same ownership, and managed by the same team as Lafite. Domaines Barons de Rothschild also owns the Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Rieussec in Sauternes, Château L'Évangile in Pomerol, and three Bordeaux brands, Légende, Saga and Résérve Spéciale. Properties further afield include Domaine d'Aussières in Languedoc, Los Vascos in Chile and Bodegas Caro in Mendoza, Argentina.

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