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  • Country ranking ?

    846
  • Producer ranking ?

    34
  • Decanting time

    4h
  • When to drink

    now to 2040
  • Food Pairing

    Grilled Flank Steak with Parsley Sauce

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98 Points Robert Parker
A blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot, this wine represents only 34% of Lafite's total harvest. In a less than perfect Medoc vintage, it has been spectacular since birth, putting on more weight and flesh over the last year. This opaque purple-colored 1998 is close to perfection. The spectacular nose of lead pencil, smoky, mineral, and black currant fruit soars majestically from the glass. The wine is elegant...

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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 F...

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Wine Information

We were concerned that the rainy harvest might dash our high hopes founded with the early blossoming, dry spring and scorching August. That turned out not to be the case. There was no rainfall until the harvest had already begun. The grapes were thus moistened but not penetrated, so maybe we can consider that divine intervention.

Once the first tanks had been worked, analyzed, and tasted, weary expressions changed to satisfied smiles. This ...

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

The 1998 Lafite-Rothschild is served from double magnum directly from the château reserves, in fact with the man who made it sitting opposite me – Charles Chevalier. I must admit to being quite amazed how well this shows at 20-years of age, trouncing all the other First Growths except Haut-Brion. Lucid in colour, it has a vivid bouquet of pure blackberry, blueberry, vanilla and graphite, perhaps just a little uncharacteristically showy in style, but beautifully defined and intense. The palate is perfectly balanced with layers of ripe black fruit, perfectly pitched acidity and a silky smooth texture that renders this utterly seductive. It is almost too good for me to recommend cellaring longer. Whatever...it is a sublime Lafite-Rothschild that on this showing, may well challenge the supremacy of the 1996. Tasted at the Académie du Vin dinner in Bordeaux.

  • 96p

Magnum directly from chateau cellar. Ruby. Scented, fruity, red berries, floral, nuanced, detailed, elegant, cassis, some figs, leather, superb nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fruity, sweet notes, figs, dates, minerals, touch of cherry stones, savory, long. 96

  • 96p
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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Above Average

Value For Money

Unsatisfactory

Investment potential

Average

Fake factory

There is a possibility

Glass time

2h
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