Tasting Notes
Antonio Galloni 96+
Rich, powerful and enveloping, the 2015 Lafite-Rothschild is endowed with serious volume and textural resonance. Super-ripe plum, smoke and spice notes emerge in the glass, but only with great reluctance. Although the aromatics aren’t giving much at this point, the palate is much more expressive. The wine’s sheer power and authoritative tone result in an unusually dramatic Lafite. The 2015 is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot that spent 20 months in oak, which is a bit more than the norm.
Anticipated maturity: 2025-2055
Neal Martin 94
The 2015 Lafite-Rothschild is more opulent and generous on the nose than its peers, offering layers of black fruit infused with cassis, graphite, Earl Grey tea and discreet menthol scents, all delivered with fine delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, ripe tannin. There is a sweet core of fruit to this quite high-toned, almost iodine-y 2015 that just lacks a bit of detail on the finish. This clearly has some way to go. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.
Wine Advocate 95
The 2015 Lafite Rothschild, which was bottled in May 2017, has a very refined bouquet with blackberry, bilberry, hints of cassis and violets, all beautifully defined. It is initially quite understated but blossoms in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, slightly chalky tannin. The acidity here is perfectly pitched, lending tension and that sense of vibrancy that winemaker Eric Kohler talks about. It just seems to flow nicely along before fanning out toward the precise finish although I still believe that its proximity to Saint-Estephe that suffered more pre-harvest rain possibly shaved off a little of what could have been. Nevertheless, this is a Lafite that seems to run like clockwork and it will surely give immense pleasure over the next 20 or 30 years.
Anticipated maturity: 2022-2050
