x
  • Country ranking ?

    533
  • Producer ranking ?

    22
  • Decanting time

    45min
  • When to drink

    now
  • Food Pairing

    None

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1865 Chateau Lafite Rothschild:

98 Points Robert Parker
“Except for the 1966 and 1870 vintages of Lafite-Rothschild, these wines were poured on virgin territory on my palate. The other great classics from the last century were remarkable wines, all with original corks, and in extraordinary condition. Their age was authenticated by Michael Broadbent, who is the only person in the world to have the good fortune to have tasted these wines on several occasions. The 1865 Lafite-Rothschild was other-worldly. The first word I wrote after smelling it was "wow!". The colour is a medium garnet with considerable rust and orange at the edge. The wine possessed an extraordinary fragrance, great density, and fabulous intensity of chocolate, herb, and cedar-like flavours with a wonderful, sweet, inner-core of opulent fruit. The finish is long and velvety, with no hard edges. It is hard to imagine a 130-year old wine (made when American Civil War adversaries, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant, were alive) tasting so extraordinary, but I was there - I saw it, I smelled it, I tasted it, and I drank it! Unreal!” 

5* Michael Broadbent
First encountered in the cellars at Bodorgan, the seat of the Meyrick family in Anglesey, North Wales: 104 bottles not moved since binned, capsules embossed ‘Lafite’ but unbranded cork. Levels, and overall condition, perfect (just five ‘slightly ullaged’). First tasted in the cellar: medium pale but lovely color; bouquet wholesome but fading drying out and thinning though very much alive (one of the ‘slightly ullaged’ bottles — halfway down the neckl — was sweeter but slightly more acidic).Two other notes, one at the pit-sale tasting.Lafite, a bottle from Lord Rosebery’s cellar at Overton’s tasting in i9: amazingly youthful, good, rich. Perfectly balanced. At Rodenstock’s in rws: embossed glass ‘lozenge’ with name of wine on shoulder of bottle, ‘R. Cabs’ on label. Alas, nose like blancmange, medicinal, tinny. Volatile, oxidised with grubby aftertaste. Most recently a bottle recorked at the château in 1980: medium-dry lovely color, amber rim; showing its age and slightly malty at first but after an hour had got its ‘second wind’. Dry, a hefty style,very tannic. Very impressive. Last noted at Jaeger’s June 2001. At best  

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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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Vintage 1865

Bordeaux: An early harvest, starting on September 6th, with good wines that were high in tannins. Many took decades to come round but proved exceptionally long-lasting. The American Civil war finished on April 9 of this year.

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Average Bottle Price

2017 2016 2013 2011 2010 2005 2000
9 956€ -6.7% 10 670€ +21.4% 8 790€ -23.0% 11 421€ +34.9% 8 466€ -22.7% 10 954€ +46.7% 7 465€

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.

Tasting note

ending

Smooth and Extensive

nose

Mature, Opulent and Tempting

taste

Perfectly balanced, Multi-dimensional, Mature, Medium-bodied, Round, Focused and Vigor

Verdict

Sophisticated and Impressive

Written Notes

The 1865 Lafite Rothschild stole the thunder from the anticipated 1870. It had a fantastic nose that was so complex, possessing all the elements of the forest. The trees, the twigs, the earth, the animals, the dew, the moss, the rocks, the wet, the dry, the smells, even the sounds…all it needed was Bear Grylls to jump into the picture with a perfect scoop of butter pecan ice cream in one hand, because that was also definitely in the nose. There was a kiss of banana to its black and purple duopoly. It had an intense finish in an elegant way, bringing cedar, spice and Christmas joy flavors to those both naughty and nice (97).
  • 97p
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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Unsatisfactory

Investment potential

Very Good

Fake factory

Serious

Glass time

30min

Inside Information

Wine Advocate #103
Feb 1996
Robert M. Parker, Jr. 98 Drink: N/A  
Except for the 1966 and 1870 vintages of Lafite-Rothschild, these wines were poured on virgin territory on my palate. The other great classics from the last century were remarkable wines, all with original corks, and in extraordinary condition. Their age was authenticated by Michael Broadbent, who is the only person in the world to have the good fortune to have tasted these wines on several occasions. The 1865 Lafite-Rothschild was other-worldly. The first word I wrote after smelling it was "wow!". The color is a medium garnet with considerable rust and orange at the edge. The wine possessed an extraordinary fragrance, great density, and fabulous intensity of chocolate, herb, and cedar-like flavors with a wonderful, sweet, inner-core of opulent fruit. The finish is long and velvety, with no hard edges. It is hard to imagine a 130-year old wine (made when American Civil War adversaries, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant, were alive) tasting so extraordinary, but I was there - I saw it, I smelled it, I tasted it, and I drank it! Unreal! 

The notes for this wine are taken from the description of Series V - Flight A of the 1995 tasting conducted in Munich by Helga and Hardy Rodenstock. Many years after the tasting from which this note derives allegations were made concerning the authenticity of old and rare bottles of wine sold by Hardy Rodenstock to collectors around the world. The matter has been the subject of numerous articles, litigation and at least one book. Mr. Parker believes that the wines served to him at this tasting were authentic so this note and the others from that specific tasting continue to be posted on eRobertParker.com.
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