On another level and one of the greatest young Bordeaux I’ve ever tasted, the 2016 Lafite-Rothschild is composed of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot raised in new oak. It takes the classic elegance and class of Lafite and turns the dial up to 11, offering a massive, heavenly array of blackcurrants, cedar pencil, graphite, tobacco, and incense aromas and flavors that soar from the glass. Deep, full-bodied, and flawlessly constructed, with perfectly integrated fruit, acidity, and tannins, this is legendary stuff all the way. It will be drinkable in 7-8 years and keep for 50-75 years or more. Along with Mouton, it’s the wine of the vintage from the Médoc. Hats off to director Eric Kohler.

Incredible aromas of crushed berries, sweet tobacco and wet earth. So perfumed and gorgeous. Hot stones and cement, too. Full-bodied, dense and powerful with lots of intense tannins and a never ending finish. Juicy and flavorful. A muscular Lafite, not seen for a long time. Classssssss!

A stunning showing from Cabernet Sauvignon here, this variety accounting for 92% of the blend, with 8% Merlot. The élevage was in 100% new oak barrels for about 18 months, prior to the wine being bottled in July 2018. This is a very dark and glossy wine, with a rather restrained and understated beginning on the nose. Given a little time in the glass, what we have here is a melange of black cherry, black plum and damson, all wrapped in soot, toast and vanilla elements, a combination which comes across as dark and brooding, but also pure and fragrant, a fascinating contrast. This is followed by a beautifully pure palate, with a hugely understated style, textured and finessed, with a superb combination of supple presence, imposing sinewy tension and freshness, but also great concentration and tightly defined substance, all of which rolls along together in a very intertwined manner. This feels so complete, so deftly composed, and very polished and correct. The remarkable thing is that while the tannins can be seen throughout the palate, and they are clearly going to have a huge role to play in this wine’s future evolution, their strength seems wiling to take a back seat behind this elegantly silky fruit substance. We have a superb Lafite here, with a huge, long, tannin-wrapped finish. Magnificent.