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Lafite-Rothschild 1990

Château Lafite-Rothschild, Bordeaux, France

Château Lafite-Rothschild
Bordeaux France
  • 99
    Points
  • The 277 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 22 Pros of
    22 recommend
    this wine
1052 99
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    233

  • Producer ranking ?

    13

  • Decanting time

    2h

  • When to drink

    now to 2025

  • Food Pairing

    Veal Chops in Rich Marsala Sauce

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

„Lafite hat eine Seele. Eine schöne, großzügige, freundliche Seele. Lafite verwandelt bloße Erde in einen Traum. Lafite ist Harmonie, die Harmonie zwischen Mensch und Natur. Ohne die Winzer auf Lafite gäbe es auch keinen Wein. Aber ohne den himmlischen Odem dieses einzigartigen Fleckens Erde könnten sie niemals etwas derart Herausragendes erschaffen.“

Baron Eric de Rothschild

Die Qualität des Château Lafite Rothschild bedarf keiner näheren Vorstellung. Schon 1815 verlieh ihm Guillaume Lawton höchste Ehren: „Er besitzt am meisten Eleganz und Delikatesse und hat den feinsten Körper der drei [premiers crus]“ – eine Klassifizierung, die 1855 bestätigt wird. Seine Weinberge zählen zu den schönsten Lagen im Médoc.“ Im Rahmen der Klassifizierung der Grand Crus von 1855, die anlässlich der Weltausstellung erschien, wurde das Château in der Tat in den Rang eines „Premier Grand Cru“ erhoben.

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Average Bottle Price

2023 2021 2019 2017 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2005
712€ +16.7% 610€ -4.7% 640€ -8.7% 701€ +12.7% 622€ -3.3% 643€ +6.8% 602€ -11.3% 679€ -22.6% 877€ -10.7% 982€ +451.7% 178€

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

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Written Notes

The last flight was upon us, and my notes were a bit briefer. We had to start gathering everyone’s votes and then tally them, so I rushed through this flight a bit more than the others. The first wine was a classic and great. It was all about the cedar, supported by morning cereal, yeast and even a hint of coconut. Its palate had excellent citric tension, and it was nice to see a good show for the ‘house’ wine, so to speak, as this was the 1990 Chateau Lafite Rothschild (95).
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  • 95p
Names and reputations don't come much bigger. Lafite in Asia now is, as they say in the classics, bigger than Ben Hur! And the prices could fund a remake of that epic with change left over. Lafite '90 is one of those wines that seemingly can't win. If it is as good as one hopes, as one expects, then it has done what it is supposed to. If it falls short, then it is tall poppy time. Fortunately, it was an absolute winner. This is a glorious Bordeaux, at its peak, though of course, it also has many years ahead of it. And it has serious class. It is balanced, amazingly long and offers a delightful mix of flavours. Plenty of cloves, lots of spice, cedar, cigar box. There was the merest hint of an intriguing chicken coop note but certainly all it did was add to the complexity and the core was all sweet, beautiful fruit. And there is plenty of complexity here. Worth noting that the alcohol level noted on the bottle was a mere, almost wimpy in today's terms, 12.5%. This wine is all class. Great Bordeaux doesn't get much better than this. 98
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  • 98p

The 1990 Lafite-Rothschild is a wine that often felt a little green around 15 years ago and then became good for a brief period. I was less impressed when Charles Chevalier showed several vintages in London some years ago. This bottle reinforces my opinion that this is a second-rate Lafite in a first-rate vintage. Quite youthful in color, it has a modest nose of blackberry, mulberry, a distant tang of seaweed and leather. It lacks the vivid aromatic color of the 2000 by direct comparison. The palate is medium-bodied with robust, slightly hard tannins that are not quite in sync with the fruit. Like previous bottles, I find this rustic and feral towards the finish, as if the warmth of that summer directs the wine rather than terroir. Lafite is an enjoyable 1990, but it is not in the same class as 1990 Lynch Bages or 1990 Pichon Baron. Tasted at the Lafite-Rothschild dinner at Amuse Bouche in Hong Kong and then blind at the Lafite-Rothschild 150th anniversary dinner at the property.

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  • 90p

(Magnum, ex-château) Ruby, garnet rim. Layered, scented, fruity, cassis, leather, tobacco, complex, nuanced, astonishing nose but needed time in the glass to fully open. Gorgeous. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fruity, elegant, refined texture and structure, subtle but intense, seductive, refreshing, very long indeed. 97

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  • 97p

Dark ruby. Lively, fresh and transparent at first with the soaraway refined scent of a Lafite. Then it took on the typical concentrated rich and velvety character of a fine 1990. Long. Impressive. 18.5/20 points  (12/2012)

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  • 95p

Interestingly, a bottle of 1990 Lafite Rothschild I pulled from my cellar for a video blog on my web site was still buttoned down, tight, and even with extended decanting was not showing as much as I would have hoped. However, a bottle tasted, of all places, in Seoul, Korea in February, was only a few points short of perfection. That amazing performance motivated me to pull another bottle out of my cellar and follow it over the course of two days. Sure enough, by the second day the wine was roaring from the glass. The 1990 Lafite has turned out far better than my early assessment. While it still possesses some firmness, and performs like a late adolescent in terms of its evolution, it boasts gorgeous aromas of cedar, tobacco leaf, cassis, and lead pencil shavings. The explosive aromas are followed by a fleshy, full-bodied wine that should hit its peak in 5-8 years, and last for 25-30 more. Release price:($1400.00/case)

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  • 96p
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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Satisfactory

Investment potential

Good

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