x
  • Country ranking ?

    257
  • Producer ranking ?

    13
  • Decanting time

    3h
  • When to drink

    now-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese

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John Salvi MW
Colour:  Fine, bright, young and youthful.  Almost purple edge.

Nose:  This is huge and assails one at once.  Generous, open and ripe, but perfectly contained and restrained.  Wonderful freshness in the acidity, but none the less great intensity of deep, ripe fruit.

Palate:  Great Wine!  Sturdy and strongly structured.  Deliciously spicy.  It can be almost stern at moments, but its generous nature takes over.  It is a little like an Adonis.  Superbly elegantly constructed and the flesh on the bones is elegance personified. It is still very young indeed and a lot of its great qualities need refining, but it has a truly splendid future.  Start to look at it again in 5 years time!

100 Points Robert Parker
Well, well, well - Lafite Rothschild does it again. Ever since manager Charles Chevalier was transferred from his beloved Sauternes property of Rieussec (also owned by the Rothschilds) to Lafite in 1994, there has been a succession of profound wines to emerge from this noble estate.

The 2000 Lafite Rothschild, a blend of 93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6.7% Merlot (only 36% of the crop made the grade) has an opaque ruby/purple color, followed by an extraordinary aromatic expression of liquid minerals/stones interwoven with the tell-tale graphite notes, mulberry, black currants, caramel, and tobacco.

In the mouth, it is remarkably light on its feet, but somehow seems to pack intense flavors into layer upon layer of fruit and richness that cascade over the palate. A compelling wine, with extraordinary precision, great intensity, and a seamlessness in spite of what are obviously elevated levels of tannin, this wine was provocatively open and beautiful when tasted in January and February, but I am sure it will soon close down. The finish lasted a whopping 72 seconds! This is utterly fascinating stuff. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2050.  

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The Story

The Château Lafite estate run by the Rothschilds is, with its 100 hectares of cultivated land, the largest of the main Pauillac vineyards.

It is located in the highest part of the area and the view from its château, with its conical towers that appear on the label, takes in the banks of the River Gironde, which flows nearby. The wines are a blend of four different varieties of grape – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petite Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Lafite matures slightly earlier than other Premier Cru wines in the region on account of the generous amounts of Merlot used, and it is this that also makes the wine more delicate and subtle than those wines which are completely dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon.

“Lafite has a soul, a beautiful, generous, kindly soul. Lafite turns bare earth into heaven. Lafite is harmony, a harmony between man and nature, because without our magnificent winegrowers, nothing would be accomplished.”
Baron Eric de Rothschild 


Of the five Premier Cru wines in the region, Château Lafite to my mind has managed to produce the year’s best wine in many of the top years in 1900th centrury. The times I have spent in the company of a 1934, 1953, 1959, 1982 and 1986 have been unforgettable. And it was then that I always remembered how many wine critics fondly describe Lafite as ‘the perfection of elegance’.

Vineyard soil: fine gravel mixed with aeolien sands on a bedrock of tertiary limestone
Production area: 103 ha
Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon (71%), Merlot (25%), Cabernet Franc (3%) and Petit Verdot (1%)
Average age of vines: 30 years
Harvest method: hand picked
Winemaking: the vinification is nowadays done with all the sophisticated instruments which modern oenology has created. Fermentation takes place in large oak vats in which the musts remain for 18 to 25 days.
Ageing: the wines are aged entirely in new barrels for 18 to 24 months. During this time,the wine is racked 7 times and is fined with the whites of 6 eggs per barrel. Only certain vats are selected to make the Grand Vin, Lafite. The others are used to make the second wine of Lafite, the “Carruades de Lafite”.

 

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Wine Information

A relatively early growing season with above average temperatures and normal rainfall. Precipitation at the end of May and early June made the vines subject to mildew, but our technicians were diligent in protecting the grapevines. The end of summer was beautiful, and the dry hot weeks in August and September gave very ripe grapes.

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Vintage 2000

BORDEAUX 2000 – A  DREAM VINTAGE

Weather conditions / Vintage 2000 has from the very start been proclaimed as one of the best vintages of modern times. In spring 2003, I've had many opportunities to find out, if we really have a true dream vintage in our hands.

During harvest 2000, while doing "personal inspection" in the vineyards, I noticed that something extraordinary big was on its way. Grapes looked extremely healthy.

While sorting table was rolling, I observed, that there were few leaves, stalks and weeds among the grapes. That's why sorting out grapes went so easy and quick. It must be one of hallmarks of 2000 vintage, because normally even the great vintages require a lot of work at sorting table.

 

2000 vintage is classic, extravagant and extremely long-lived Bordeaux with dark, extremely dense wines, which have enormous concentration of fruit, length and superbly concentrated tannin. The tannin is not allowed to dominate, because it's well wrapped up by fruit. A scent of sub-maturity is only present in few wines. One of this vintage's trademarks is an intense and deep aroma of dark berries, like blueberries, blackberries and black cherries.

All red grape varieties reached perfect maturity, including Bordeaux' most capricious and unruly grape variety, Petit Verdot. Petit Verdot gives the much meeded contribution of backbone and power to the wines.

Also the grapes for whites, like Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle, did ripe perfectly and produced tremendously fine dry white wines. Sweet white wines turned unfortunately to be a few light, elegant and charming wines, which were based 100% on September pickings. Beginning on the 11th October, it rained heavily in Bordeaux and it continued until the end of the year.

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Average Bottle Price

2023 2021 2019 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2005
980€ +14.0% 860€ -12.2% 980€ -29.0% 1 380€ +10.2% 1 252€ -3.5% 1 298€ -10.3% 1 447€ -11.3% 1 632€ -0.8% 1 645€ -21.3% 2 090€ +14.2% 1 830€ +560.6% 277€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Latest Pro-tasting notes

15 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Deep, Ruby red and Bright

ending

Long, Extensive and Vibrant

flavors

Blackcurrant, Cedar, Cigar-box, Honey, Leather and Mineral

nose

Intense, Fresh, Generous and Refined

taste

Perfectly balanced, Well-Integrated, Multi-dimensional, Full-bodied, Harmonious, Focused, Ripe and Silky tannins

Verdict

Intelligent and Well made

Written Notes

I sampled them in no particular order, beginning with the 2000 Lafite Rothschild. This was an all-around classic, with aromas of cedar, nut, caramel, vanilla and cassis, a Left Bank version of a quintafecta, which my spell-check is telling me isn’t a word. Obviously, it hasn’t been to the horse track. Its nose was perfect, dancing so elegantly, with precision and strength. The palate was a bit shy, though long, showing reticent flavors of wafer, nut and cassis. It tasted as if it had so much to say but didn’t feel like talking much. This will be an all-time great Lafite (96+).
  • 96p

The 2000 Lafite-Rothschild is a millennial First Growth that bided its time and let greatness come naturally. Now, as it begins to reach its drinking window, it is starting to “find its groove”. This is the best showing after half-a-dozen encounters. Youthful in color, the bouquet remains pure and well defined, with trademark black fruit, graphite and cedar, though this particular example exhibited a touch more blue fruit. Whilst the aromatics are more understated than those of the 2000 Latour, there is a sense of panache. The palate is medium-bodied with irresistible lithe tannins that are neatly interwoven into the intense black fruit with veins of graphite and fresh tobacco, the former more conspicuous towards the finish. The 2000 is utterly graceful, and although it is not what you might tag a “barnstorming” performance, it is nonetheless one heavenly Pauillac that is just up to the second of a dozen chapters. Tasted at the Lafite-Rothschild dinner at Amuse Bouche in Hong Kong.

  • 97p

Rich and powerful, with torque to the ripe dark berry, chocolate, subtle earth and cedar flavors. A muscular yet graceful style that holds its own and promises a nice life ahead.

  • 98p

Tasted on the 9th December 2016. Lafite is just perfect if you want to enjoy finesse, grace and richness of nuances. That was exactly what we had in 2000 vintage from this property, with added striking structure, depth and balance. 

  • 99p
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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Satisfactory

Investment potential

Very Good

Fake factory

Be Cautious

Glass time

2h

Inside Information

Wine Advocate #146
Apr 2003
Robert M. Parker, Jr. 100 Drink: 2011 - 2050 $1389-$4900 (300)
Well, well, well - Lafite Rothschild does it again. Ever since manager Charles Chevalier was transferred from his beloved Sauternes property of Rieussec (also owned by the Rothschilds) to Lafite in 1994, there has been a succession of profound wines to emerge from this noble estate. The 2000 Lafite Rothschild, a blend of 93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6.7% Merlot (only 36% of the crop made the grade) has an opaque ruby/purple color, followed by an extraordinary aromatic expression of liquid minerals/stones interwoven with the tell-tale graphite notes, mulberry, black currants, caramel, and tobacco. In the mouth, it is remarkably light on its feet, but somehow seems to pack intense flavors into layer upon layer of fruit and richness that cascade over the palate. A compelling wine, with extraordinary precision, great intensity, and a seamlessness in spite of what are obviously elevated levels of tannin, this wine was provocatively open and beautiful when tasted in January and February, but I am sure it will soon close down. The finish lasted a whopping 72 seconds! This is utterly fascinating stuff. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2050.
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