Chateau Lafite Rothschild Premier Cru Classe, Pauillac 2023

45hl/h yield, highest since 2015, harvest September 7 to 29. 100% new oak.

This hits you right off the first nose, driven by slate and crushed rocks, setting the tone and the architecture, guiding the fruit through the palate. Cassis, bilberry, tobacco leaf, graphite, crushed mint, finessed and sculpted, this is a gorgeous Lafite with fine tannins and the squid ink character that seems to be present in all of this stable of wines except Moulin de Duhart. Hidden power, where nothing is too much and yet everything is concentrated, once again proving that the terroir at this particular spot has its own personality that stands out every year.

High Cabernet as ever, combined with around 15% press wine. It is not the concentration of 2022, but in many ways, it showcases the essence of Lafite more squarely, and this will delight anyone lucky enough to own it in future years. A new cellar is underway, due for completion in 2027. I am giving it 10 years to begin entering its opening window, a little less than usual, but it will make no difference in how long you can cellar it.

Drink 2033 - 2055

15% press. 3.8pH. 38% grand vin production. Ageing 90% new oak. A potential 100-point wine.

A clear contender for wine of the vintage. Deep, purple colour on the rim. Some soft herbal and floral aromatics, milk chocolate. A real sense of understated power, as Lafite does so well. It’s not so demonstrative at all, but there’s a gorgeous, charming delicacy to this - fine powdery blue fruit tannins with edges of liquorice and slate. Smooth and supple, excellent weight in the mouth, light and streamlined, with less overt acidity and brightness than Carruades, but still with a mouthwatering centre that gives strawberry and cherry fruit flavours.

It ends with subtle graphite and wet stone, long and lingering though. It is just delightful, so elegant and finessed. You can feel the density on the finish; the slight weight of the tannins comes at the end, bringing a controlled and quiet power. I love the sense of ease and seamlessness of this wine; it just slips down. 1% of very old Petit Verdot went into the blend this year.

Drink 2033 - 2060

The blend is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot, with pH 3.76.

The 2023 Lafite Rothschild is deep garnet-purple in color. After a little swirling, wonderfully pure notes of boysenberries, wild blueberries, and blackcurrants emerge from the glass, followed by hints of violets, dark chocolate, licorice, and fertile loam with a hint of black truffle. The light to medium-bodied palate delivers electric sparks of vibrant black berry and mineral flavors framed by super-ripe, fine-grained tannins and great tension, finishing long and shimmery. A wine that is so, so cerebral, this is a vintage well played by Lafite.

Drink 2030 - 2060

The purity of cabernet sauvignon is so evident here. It mesmerizes you with aromas of black and red currants, cedar, tobacco and bark. It's full-bodied yet there's very impressive weightlessness and agility, as well as subtlety and focus. Some iron and terra-cotta. Cedar and sandalwood undertones. Juicy and plummy at the end.

The finest of the first growths this year appears to be the 2023 Lafite Rothschild, a terrific effort that unwinds in the glass with deep and incipiently complex aromas of cassis, pencil shavings, lilac and violets mingled with hints of cigar wrapper and mint. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it's vibrant and refined, with a deep core of fruit, plenty of sweet structuring tannin and a compelling marriage between energy and plenitude. It's a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot that reminds me of 2019's tannins combined with 2016's unimpeachable classicism.

The 2023 Château Lafite-Rothschild is based on 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot, resting in 100% new French oak, with the balance in once-used barrels.

It’s another deeply hued barrel sample that has thrilling and classic Lafite) aromatics of darker currants, freshly sharpened pencils, leather, flowers, and graphite. These all carry over to the palate, where the wine is medium to full-bodied and has a seamless, layered, elegant mouthfeel and ultra-fine tannins. I don’t see it hitting the heights of the 2018, 2019, or 2020, but it’s an incredible wine in the vintage and is going to be an ultra-classic beauty from this château that will evolve for decades.

The blend is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot.

The 2023 Lafite-Rothschild races out of the glass with notable textural intensity. Explosive and deep, with striking balance, Lafite dazzles in this vintage. The 2023 is a somber, virile Lafite endowed with remarkable depth and tons of sheer character. Plum, blackberry, gravel, pencil shavings, graphite, mocha and lavender build into the intense, palate-staining finish.

Drink 2023 - 2073

The 2023 Lafite-Rothschild was picked September 7 to 29 at 45hL/ha and matured in 100% new oak.

This is more discrete on the nose—one of the tropes of this First Growth—even when compared to the more immediate Carruades. This takes time to unfurl in the glass, slowly revealing black fruit laced with pencil box and just a touch of pressed violet. There’s wonderful precision here. The palate is medium-bodied with a cashmere texture, very pure again) with a judicious dab of cracked black pepper.

The finish is very sleek, thanks to its almost filigree tannins, seeming to glide across the palate. It's not a grippy or sinewy Pauillac, and on reflection, it is technically perfect. Yet, I find myself searching for a bit more…soul. Perhaps a few rough edges would captivate the emotions. This is a delicious Lafite-Rothschild no doubt, but I want it to move me once in bottle. Maybe it will.

Drink 2023 - 2070