Birthday Dinner. Got lucky with a perfectly stored bottle. The wine has incredibly vibrant fruit left in it despite its (our) age - this great wine easily has 10 years of peak drinking window left in it.
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Served right by a 1988 DRC St Vivant, this 1990 Ch Lafite Rothschild took the DRC to 10 rounds, and then punched it out in the 11th. Honestly hard to compare this wine to a DRC since they were quite a bit different (Pinot...vs. --> 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 13% Cabernet Franc in the Ch. Lafite). The combination is incredible. 75% of CellarTracker's inventory is in cellar at the time of this TN, and I think I kind of understand why. My previous experience almost 10 years ago with this very same vintage under questionable provenance was quite a bit different, so it again goes to show you that provenance after bottling is absolutely #1. That experience was a smoky ashtray. This one was near to being otherworldy, and one of a few 99's that I have ever given a wine (only one 100 in 4700 wines). This wine had been allowed to decant for about 4 hours before anyone got to it. Opulent red fruit abounds here in the nose and palate with a hint of black fruit. Nose with a smoky char about it with a hint of saddle leather but a ton of red fruit crush. On the palate, There was an ashy note that was definitely more in the background, but this resembled more of the pencil shaving and graphite notes I see with a lot of these well made Bordeaux. Smoked tobacco, black cherry, cassis, fig tart, herbal notes, black tea, red licorice up front, and then black licorice that developed as this wine sat on the palate. Slightly charred sweet cedar tannin with mild black pepper notes. Really delectable, right on the line of full bodied, although I still get a lot of rather "feminine" notes here which made this one dance with the seared grouper and lamb stew which were its food accompaniment. A 70th birthday celebration of a wine friend, with this and the 88 DRC St. Vivant both the stars of the show. Not worthy! If you're lucky to have a case of this wine, and have not yet cracked it open, it's time to get the crowbar out. Drink one every two years until it's done, and it won't let you down. Drink now or hold for 30 years.
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Bottles donated from the Lafite Rothschild cellar. Seriously good! The nose draws you in with such pure cassis fruit, violet florals and lead pencil. Luscious fruits surround the high tensile, graphite spine. It is rich and voluminous yet so focused and detailed. It is fresh, youthful and has terrific length.
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At Renee and Gerry (+Melissa and Andrew). With great salmon dish. What a spectacular bottle. Super fresh. Great color, nose and the whole thing. No words to describe how great this is. Super long life left but why wait. Very spoiled that i got to drink this.
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(Not a) birthday dinner (Hinsdale, IL): To be sure, not at the level of the ex-domaine bottle at a HDH tasting a few years back. Others felt it thin, and they were right. But that is more a statement relative to great bottles of this wine, but this is nevertheless incredible Bordeaux (though not at the level of Latour). This is everything that you want in a Pauillac -- all that cedar, leather, and dark fruit. It's still intense and brilliant with tons of complexity and still a fair bit of grainy tannin. This is one of the best vintages of this generally overrated estate.
The best example of this wine I have ever tasted was simply beautiful. The dried flowers, cedar, tobacco, and spicy red currant perfumed notes were the perfect introduction. The palate was clearly its equal, as the textures balanced suppleness, with vibrancy, refinement, and elegance, finishing with purity in the red fruits and almost soft, creamy tannins. Just starting to wake up, this is going to age for decades. Drink from 2024-2060.
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Whole Lotta Lafite; 1/26/2024-1/27/2024 (Wine Watch, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): While this bottle was not nearly as impressive as one from last month it still proves 1990 is a highly successful vintage for Lafite with no roasted or green characteristics. Questionably high in alcohol on the palate which fortunately only detracts very slightly. Creamy texture. Ripe but not overripe. Just lacking the focus of the best bottles. In its early maturity stage and the one to reach for if you want to drink Lafite without too much risk.
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Rather shy at first, gradually unveiling its charms as it breathes. Lots of black cherry fruit, excellent acidity, medium tannins. Needs a few more years to achieve focus but delicious already.
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In keeping with my June 2022 tasting note, this remains quite unevolved. There’s Lafite personality to be sure, and the cassis, cedar pencil, sandalwood, gingerbread notes in moderate volume are pleasant… but I think we’re all looking for more than pleasant with Lafite. And Lafite has more than pleasant to offer. But it’s important to stop drinking these for now. Drink something else. Wait for these.
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Decanted 3 hours. Still relatively young for it's age and should be able to open up more. However, good balance overall and showing a lot of complexities on the nose and palate. Medium long finish.
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Decanted briefly. Nice mature fruit in the body with excellent structure, stately and refined. No rush; possibly a bit more softening and integration with a couple more years or longer decant. I wouldn't be afraid to decant for two hours.
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Extraordinarily well integrated. Dark fruit, Cassis, lead pencil earth. Spectacular balance, and length. This one does not get as much press is it deserves.
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Un Repas en Cuisine - GD host (City Club FW - Chef's Table): Tasted single blind - Easily identifiable as Bordeaux with first sniff. Such a beautiful nose of cedar, cherry, black olive, leather, currant. The slightest bricking, but a beautiful color in the glass, with decent transparency and no sediment (at least in my glass). Dark fruits on the palate, with hints of mushrooms, leather, and other tertiary flavors. A beautiful wine. Still medium + tannins, and an incredibly long finish. In a perfect spot, and of the 1990 first growths I've tried, this one is top of the list (I still have a couple to go).
Edit - this was my top wine of 2023.
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This is a 100 point wine in waiting, and why it is under the radar is beyond me. This can easily go head to head with the 82 and 86. Blackcurrant, cedar, and leather define the wine, and with time in the glass it is heady and deeply seductive on the nose. The tannin still needs further evolvement, but the palate is exquisitely balanced, and with extraordinary depth. The finish is other worldly, and pushed past 120 seconds. I half expect I will wake up tomorrow morning and find it continuing.
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Unknown for how long this was decanted. Aromas of cassis, plums, mild green pepper and mild green stems. Lovely elegant palate with cassis, currants, green pepper and stems, with some herbs and earth. Med body with elegant mouthfeel and nice acids. Nice herbal, fruity, mineral finish. Surprised at how much ripe, fresh fruit the wine still had given that it's over 30 yrs old. But the wine also has nice complexity. I imagine that more age will give the wine even more complexity than now. Great drink now but would love to taste the wine again in another 5 or even 10 years. 93+
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Simply stunning wine leaving me almost speechless. Nose was cassis-driven with cedar and hints of leather while the palate was tertiary dark fruits, perfectly balanced acid and dusty tannins with a long finish of all of the above integrated together. I bought this wine in 1993 for $95 and have been saving it for a special occasion, in this case, a very big birthday milestone celebrated with my family. The wine is perfect now, but I'm sure will keep for years.
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BYO Litteraturhuset "Best Wine": Dyp mørk farge, svak utvikling mot murstensfarget kant. Fabelaktig pauillac-duft av sedertre, solbær og blyantspiss, et svakt røykpreg og et snev av urter. Åpner noe forsiktig men drar skikkelig på med stor kraft og fylde, stram og kompakt frukt med et herlig mørkt bærpreg. Stor vin uten å være brautende - elegant tanninstruktur, energisk og med lang smakskurve, "mineralsk" blir nevnt, jeg kjenner salttoner godt integrert i fruktbildet. En av kveldens lengste smakskurver - vanskelig å svelge unna.
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Smells and tastes much like lafite. Always stiffer and more impact full. This is really delicious- cut like $3,000 suit that your gonna wear casually anyway.
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Jason's belated Birthday: This bottle might have been the best wine of my life. Absolutely peerless!
The nose was beguiling, could have smelled it for hours even without tasting it, and would have been satisfied. Then on the palate, it is just majestic, drinking at peak without question. Majestic and a sexy sexy wine!
This would have been my first 100 points but taking that 1 point off because don't think this is gonna have the longevity of the 90 Margaux, Cheval, or Latour given they are just at the start of their peak, this wine is at the top already. But given the pricing for the 82 and 96 vintages of Lafite, this is really underpriced.
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This was head and shoulders better than everything else tonight. Initially with slightly high acidity and edgy, one hour later, this was smooth, silky and nearly perfect on the palate, probably close to its peak. Simply majestic. Drinking better than ‘90 Margaux now but I think Margaux will eventually overtake Lafite. Single blind. 98+
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Decanted 90 minutes ahead, from magnum. Deep ruby, with little sign of age. Classic cassis, with a subdued note of leather. Silky and long. Lovely, but not overly ‘knock-your-socks-off’ …Paired with grilled lamb
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Decanted for three hours and tasted along the way. Nose was graphite, dark cherries, and classic Lafitte reserve. Palette was tight-ish but loosened up after a few hours in the decanter. Fill was into the neck and this seemed to be a perfect bottle. Not a blockbuster but beautiful bottle of claret. Fully mature but not over the hill. Truly enjoyable experience. 95-96.
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Super-premium Bordeaux Tasting (at my home): Opened and lowered to shoulder 4 hour prior to tasting. Deep ruby color with a touch of garnet at the rim. The nose is complex and intense, with aromas of black currant, blackberry, leather, cedar, tobacco, and a hint of graphite. On the palate, this wine is full-bodied and concentrated, with firm tannins and a velvety texture. The flavors are rich and layered, with notes of black fruit, cassis, dark chocolate, espresso, and a touch of smoke. The finish is long and elegant, with a persistent aftertaste of black cherry and vanilla. Excellent wine, though now a big WOW.
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Not very dark colour, but no sign of brown. Decanted one hour. Elegant in the nose, clear tannins, nice fruit and freshness,completly integrated. Dark berries, rose, herbs in the nose. Solid tannins, minerality, freshness and friut on the palate combined to a very elegant claret. Very long, eclectic finish. Not a real blockbuster, but very fine and elegant claret. I do not expect an improvemnt with further cellaring.
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- Brick color with medium forming legs. It's balanced and has flavours of strawberry and black currant with a medium/full body. Smooth texture with a medium finish - This wine is ready to drink in my opinion. Nose has really mellowed.
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DrinkBordeaux’s bottle. Absolutely dazzling. Gorgeous black cherry fragrance and flavor. Luscious, rich, “hedonistic,” lightly sweet. Only medium weight but an abundance of flavor. Seems young and may develop more nuance in the years to come but so delicious now you probably don’t want to wait.
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Decanted for 30 min Significant bricking at the rim The nose starts out with the classic barnyard and a bit of scorched earth with wafts of raspberry and black raspberry taking over within 15 minutes. The palate is a bit lighter/more delicate than anticipated, but the fruit is lovely raspberry and black raspberry with good complexity and length We have one bottle left and I definitely plan to open it in the next 12-24 months
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Decanted 2,5 hours. Unfortunately, the bottle had a slight cork taste. Only very subtle, so little that you could still enjoy the wine. The bottle was in perfect condition and the wine was still good. However, I now refrain from a rating, as it would not be representative.
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Firm, reticent, classic-styled Pauillac with loads of spicy red, crisp currants, cedar, tobacco, cigar box, herbs, and forest leaves. The fruit is crunchy and the tannins are a bit on the rustic side. If you are seeking an old-school, classic with a green edge, you are going to like this more than I did. Drink from 2023-2050.
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IWFS Lafite Big Bottles (The Modern): Probably my pick for the long run wine. This was all blackberry and brambles and just a hint of secondary maybe but still quite primary. By far the most fruit in the line-up. It's a wine that I suspect could be really interesting with more time. Quite forward at the moment, but there's the stuffing for the finesse to come through as the fruit tones down a touch. From an Imperial and again, who doesn't love truly big bottles?
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This is the essence of beautiful matured Bordeaux at it’s best!
As suggested by others, it got close to 4 hours in the decanter which is needed to get it going on all cylinders. I tried small sips at 0-3 hours where it only tasted good but not great and balance-wise was a bit ackward.
It is elegant, very complex and smell and taste so great! And the best thing is, that it holds a Nice temp. range from 16-21 degrees Celcius! (But better at 16-18 oC)
Bouqet & Taste: Too many different notes to describe (see other reviews)
Pristine bottle.
Can easily go another decade! Isn’t that awesome…
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A truly great bottle this time. High ullage in the bottle, full bodied, rich, lots of life, beautiful posh red fruit, very mature and at its utter peak now like many 1990's. Great experience with friends. Holds its own next to Hudelot Beaumonts. The only remark I would make is that this vintage seems to be a bit short on the minerality dimension, so typical for Lafite, which, in my book, makes Lafite irresistible in the truly great vintages. Lovely!
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Unmistakably, classically Lafite from the start, this shows the essence of graphite-driven mineral, cool cassis, lavender, new leather, green peppercorn, and a touch of cedar. Simply a huge, pencilly, cigar-tinged palate which lingers and lingers. This is a wine of beautiful, lithe, tensile strength.
And yet - after about 40 minutes, this shuts down. Unassuming, loamy, demure. If tasted at this point, you'd feel justified in scoring it somewhere in the mid-high 80s. It starts to open back a little bit the next day, but doesn't come close to that initial song of Lafite.
So, 95-96 points, certainly... but as with other Lafite of this era (1986, 1989), this is coming around very, very slowly. This demands you be ready for it, rather than the other way around.
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A powerhouse of a wine with dense, opulent fruit filled with tobacco, spice and cedar. While it's powerful, the wine unfolds in layers and conveying a sense of elegance, which is amplified by suave structure. Stunner.
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This is one of the best vintages of Lafite to drink now even though it will likely improve and gain complexity in the years to come. Lovely black and blue fruit aromatics, medium full, vibrant and satisfying. No sign of a super hot vintage. The tannins are suave. Delightful.
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Lafite Rothschild vertical (Taberna del Alabardero, Washington D.C.): Perfectly mature nose displaying sweet opulent black fruit with a hint of red, blackberry, crème de cassis, strawberry, caramel, cedar, lead pencil, black truffle, cinnamon and mineral. Perfectly integrate palate, layers upon layers of rich black fruit, silky and fluid, beautifully balanced and detailed, bright acidity, strong mineral, nicely integrated tannins and a seamless long rich black fruit driven finish with caramel and cedar at the end. Perhaps the best drinking Lafite of the night. Absolutely pleasing wine.
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48x 1990 (37x Bdx, 6x Napa, 5x others): Tasted side by side with the Latour (95+ pts). Unsurprisingly, the Lafite is all about delicacy and finesse, while the Latour is bold and beautiful. This is one of the better Lafites I‘ve had to date but it‘s not a wine for a dinner with many people or many wines. Is such a subtle wine that it seems imperative to have it alone or with just two people and follow it over hours to catch all nuances. 95 pts easily today, I‘m not sure if the wine has much more upside from here (will there be enough fruit left once all tertiary aromas kick in?).
TN: Rather muted nose. Only with time more open but always not super expressive and very delicate. On the palate this is very mineralic, so much crushed rocks, graphite, herbs and a dark fruit core. Very fine and Burgundian in style, this is all about finesse (in a Pauillac context). The concentration is impressive. The sweetness only comes out with more time. Giving the wine a good balance it didn‘t had at the start. Very complete wine with a long finish with minerality and dark berries.
Decanting: Quick double decant three+ hours prior to the tasting to remove sediment. This needed more time in the glass and some swirling to come out of its shell. Give it time, 2+ hours in the decanter at least.
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This showed beautifully at the Lafite vertical dinner. It was smooth and sumptuous in the style of the vintage with supple tannins and a gorgeous texture. Quite full and round and definitely sporting the classic Lafite notes of lead pencil shavings and chiseled gravel. The finish is deeply satisfying with a nice mineral grip and excellent complexity. Perhaps doesn't show the precision of the best vintages of Lafite but for drinking tonight, it was a lot of people's favorite of the evening. Just lovely.
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Decanted and followed over four hours. Cedar, leather, tobacco and cherry. So seamless on the palate. Really outstanding. In about the perfect spot for my tastes, though has plenty of life ahead of it.
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deepish red color only just starting to pale at the rim, cassis, violets and boxwood, cedar, a hint of cherry, lead, on the palate perfection, all that is good in the 1990 vintage and in Lafite-Rothschild is on full display here, gentle cherry notes with a whisper of animale, cedar notes around the edges of a bright aged pool of mature cassis fruit, lengthy elegant fragrant finish, despite its full body it remains calming and comforting, pristinely understated, with time a bit of bramble and pencil lead emerges, it seems a bit out of place in the modern wine scene- but for me this is the ultimate Lafite from the era I love best, savor it over dinner, skip the Port and have the last glass fireside with a good book.
*****, in perfect peak with many years of glory ahead.
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Decanted for an hour. The wine is still young. Fruit is still prominent but after some airing the typical Lafite tobacco and leather started to appear. The wine is polished in a modern style of wine. Very sleek. For my taste you can feel the energy in the wine, but it was still too tight and wound up. It is just starting to stretch its legs, but it is no where near cruising at a steady pace yet. Immense potential for sure, but got to be patient for this one to turn into a classic Lafite.
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Not as strong a showing as last bottle and had a hard time keeping up with the 1990 Haut Brion and especially the 1982 Mouton tasted along side. Not as harmonious and elegant as the former and not as layered as the latter. Still a wonderful wine. Would not wait.
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Great bottle, known provenance, fill, cork etc. good looking. Good aroma. Good taste but no power. No finish. Tobacco. Cigar smoke. Leather. Lifted spice aroma almost Burgundian. Some forest and sous bois. Fruit is Christmas fruitcake. All that is positive. Finish detracts. 90/91 but would recommend as a good 31 year old Bordeaux
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6th of 12, decanted an hour, perfect cork and level, seemingly slightly tainted showing older than expected and stripping fruit flavours whilst exposing wonderful structure and tertiary flavours. This bottle F+ (18) and still preferred to 01 by most of party (usually VF+ 19 or 97).
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Mostly just acid and austere fruit coming through immediately after opening. 2-3 hours in the decanter and this really changed considerably, as it opened up the fruit became far more expressive, ripe and silky. By the end of the night this was delicious. I highly recommend giving this a few hours of air before you drink today.
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Popped and poured. Lighter garnet with subtle amber edge. Fresh sawn wood, delicate perfume, lead pencil, currant and raspberry. Cinnamon bark and rhubarb with chalky tannins lightly coating the palate giving to an ethereal presence. Vibrant, young with good old world characteristics. Many years of complexity to come, though it’s incredible enjoyable now.
p.s. prime charcoal grilled ribeyes with farmers cheese pierogis and grilled asparagus.
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Decanted 2,5 hours. A perfect bottle. Ready to drink. Very elegant and complex. Wonderful nose. Improved a lot in the decanter. I would recommend to decant it at least 2,5 hours. 95 pts. at the moment.
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Two reasons why I liked this much more than the 2005, tasted side-by-side: much older (mmmmmmm!) and a good dollop of Merlot in the mix. It's 57% Cabernet, 30% Merlot, 13% Cab Franc. The '05 is Cab dominated (89%) and to my palate, almost undrinkable. This is another story. It's fabulously soft and multi-layered, with explosive aromas of truffles, chocolate, mushrooms, game, iron, cigarbox. It's dusty, deep, very serious and grand. On top of this you get other brighter dimensions that help contain this sophisticated warming fragrance: a mintiness and freshness that belies its considerable age. Overall it's more savoury than sweet, but it's wonderful and very special. For me, not quite transcendental, which is the category many wine drinkers (especially Bordeaux enthusiasts) feel it deserves to belong to. It retails in the UK for about £750 - £50 cheaper than the 2005! Obviously the price is still absurd, but it might just about be warranted on the basis of relative age and scarcity.
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Celebrate my girl admitted into a renowed university. Breathed for 2 hrs, top fill with bright ruby and a lighter rim in the glass. nose is full of lead pencil, cassis, typical Pauillac structure. Very elegant surprisingly on palate, sweet dark fruits and good acidity. Still have room to evolve, but not a wow wine by any measure, some tertiary aroma noted, maybe I am spoiled by wines from Burgundy.
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This is the second time i've had this bottle and both were absolute stunners. Few hour decant. Everything you love about bordeaux and everything in place--funky, deep fruit, soft and wonderfully long finish. This bottle will age forever but sure does drink well now.
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Maybe the best wine I had this year and a reminder that there are actual reasons that Bordeaux was a benchmark for so long. Deep currant fruit with a vegetal, animal, graphite edge that screams Pauillac. I had an emotional reaction to this perfect bottle from my father's cellar since I haven't seen my parents in 15 months and I miss them terribly. I first learned about wine at my father's side accompanying him on his Saturday trips to the local wine shop and tasting in the back room with other loyal customers. I remember when he bought these 1990 first growths, the first ones he ever bought, for $70-80 per bottle on futures. It's hard to imagine now that all wine was available as a splurge for regular people. This was a truly magnificent bottle, worthy of storing all these years and with decades of life left in it. I wouldn't even say that it is at peak since the tannins are still a little bit backwards. I can't wait to share a special bottle with my parents the next time I see them. As an aside, this was the hardest to dislodge cork I can remember with wine only on the end. I see so many people showing corks on wines younger than this soaked half way up calling it a "perfect cork". A perfect cork has no staining except at the end. That's what bottles look like that come from my cellar that I've had since release.
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Classic Bordeaux...earlier on iodine in the nose, now flavors of cedar, cranberry and tobacco. This is a wonderful wine now though still think it has a few years left. But no bottles left...
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Decant 3 hours; slightly reductive at first; medium bodied, smooth old Bordeaux feel; dark berry, sous bois, cedar; gradually increased mouthfeel and cedar on nose, tasted hourly before decant; best at about 4 1/2 hours; not life-altering, but classic; definitely worth the 1990s price.
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won't rate cuz we were distracted by World Series Game 6 (Dodgers won it all... 32 year drought is finally over!!)... but remember this underwhelming (at least in the first two hours when I was at least trying to taste the wine)
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A Zoom tasting of decent wines. An excuse to be social. (Zoom): A slightly less than stellar showing. Perfectly stored bottle. Not much to connote other than a decent 30 year old left bank Bordeaux. If anything, as expected, this was a tad more elegant than the others in the flight. Conversely, it lacked the complexity, weight and balance of the Mouton and Latour. It did add some complexity like some detailed high class cigar notes as it sat. 93+
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Delicate but intense aromas and flavors of cassis potpourri, tobacco, cedar, graphite, mushrooms and leather that progress in layered and linear fashion across an exquisitely balanced palate of bright acidity and superfine tannins and finish with incredible length. Near peak pleasure for me with primary fruit shows good presence and in great balance with secondary and tertiary elements but why take the risk of loss of fruit with further aging since this 30yr Lafite is drinking perfectly now!
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Gorgeous bottle. This has everything in perfect balance. The signature fruit of the 1990 vintage with beautiful freshness and underlying acidity. Quintessential Lafite graphite and lead pencil shavings. Some smoke on the nose. Black cassis fruit with nice secondary development. Ultrafine tannins complete the package. Bravo!
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This keeps growing in stature and to me has just about taken the lead amongst the first growths now in 1990 (with Margaux). It's really showing the terroir of Lafite which so often takes decades to appear. The wine is voluptuous in the style of the vintage and so well balanced with a fine, chiseled texture. The finish is just so satisfying with classic notes of lead pencil and the finest smoky gravel. Simply stunning tonight.
My 2nd birth year first growth. Decanted for 1 hour prior to consumption. Nose is extremely pronounced with hint of black currant, pencil, leather, truffle, forest floor, cedar, chocolate. Palate is a bit closed. Tannin still exists and as silky as margaux. Gratefully it opened beautifully in 3 hours. So elegant. Exceptional bottle. Strongly recommend to decant 3+ hours at this stage.
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I have had many bottles of Lafite in my life, and particularly Lafite 90. Lafite was cryptic! Tonight I finally had a superb Lafite 90 that I can understand! The trick was to decant it for at least 3-4 hours! Nose was green, capsicum and smoky. Palate was extremely mellow, rounded and very powerful fruits.
more tasting note in finewines.com.sg
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12h slow ox - opened in the morning, put neutral stopper back in and then decanted for about an hour at restaurant in the evening as the wine seemed to need still a bit of air. Somewhat musty nose that carries into the attack, on the mid palate a typical and nice left bank Bdx but with somewhat disappointing concentration, and also complexity given vintage and Chateau. Not tired nor closed, just a barely medium body Bordeaux. Tannins well integrated. Medium length. Overall a nice left banker but then nowhere near the 90 Lynch Bages, and of course the QPR is a bit of a problem...
I could not help smiling as this bottle was passed around- a dear old friend I have not seen in quite some time, youthful ruby color with a bit of bricking at the rim, cedar and boxwood on the nose, cassis, lead, lilacs, on the palate what a beautiful creation this has become, aged cassis with lead notes, hints of blackberry, a vibrant cherry note as well, broad and relaxing cedar notes throughout, perfectly poised, beautifully balanced, pristine, regal, the ultimate claret, I have long given the 1989 an edge for longevity plus a slight dash of excitement- but now seeing the 1990 at full maturity I have to put them on equal footing, if for varying reasons, a very special experience to see the first wine you ever really fell in love with all grown up at last.
*****, now to 2040
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From a bottle purchased on release from The Wine Connection, this one showed the best yet. While most of the group preferred the ‘90 Haut-Brion, I thought this was Wine of the Night, besting Latour and Margaux as well on this exceptional evening. Not a trace of the rusticity it sometimes displays, instead silky, sweet, luxurious and supremely elegant. Essence of Lafite. Red and black fruity, medium full, outstanding balance. It’s finally all composed and it’s beautiful.
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HDH annual Bordeaux tasting: Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Chicago, IL): This is truly glorious Bordeaux. The matured ripeness here manifests as this intense dried fruit perfume, and coupled with that slight hint of brett, the pencil shavings and leather, make for a nose that stops you dead in your tracks. Then you get to the palate, and it delivers all the glory that the nose promises. Simultaneously showing resolved secondary characteristics and youthful fruit, this is an example of what Bordeaux truly is about. One for the ages, and easily one of the best bottles of Bordeaux I've tasted this year (in a year that has been full of legends).
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Lafite Dinner 2019 (Blue Hill): Graceful wine, so composed with a variety of flowers, pencil box, soft spice and sweet fruit. Incredibly youthful with a very complete palate. 97
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Double blind. Next to 90 Haut Brion that we knew. Definitely Cabernet based. This has dark fruit, scorched earth, some herbal and stones, the herbal and wood. Dark - blackberry and cassis . Guessed old world and BDX which was easy next to HB - lots of similarities. This has more fruit and a sweet streak. On the palate it’s more closed them The Haut Brion, with lots of structure. Based on the darker fruit I went Pauillac or St Estephe and ended with Paulliac With the sweet streak and the flavor profile I went 89 lynch Bages.
Note after the reveal and a pour from the bottom of the bottle, surprisingly no sediment but much more typical of the chateau:
Nose: Dark. Scorch. Pencil lead shavings, young. Dark sweet fruit. Spices minerality. Palate is young and dark. Scorched. Chewy. Some savory. Cedar/wood. Dusty tannins both smooth - purple. Excellent potential. Nose - 5.5/6, Palate - 5+/6, Finish - 5+/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 17+/20 (with 18-19/20)
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Some 1990 1st growths etc (Chez Herb Wollowick): At no point during the evening did this evoke a comment of “the best” or “my favorite”, but at the end a few folks agreed with me that this bottle had the most soul of the 3 first Growths we drank from this vintage.
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Zachy's Lafite Auction (Le Bernardin Prive): Red fruit, chocolate, game, bitter stem, dark violet, spicy and sharp. Great acidity, herbal tannins, smooth and fresh palate albeit with some rough bumps. Might not age well. 93
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Wine-gasm. From magnum with friends at our local French restaurant. Scintillating nose of dark fruit berries and spice. The magnum format save plenty of the ebullient berries and vibrancy which may be fading in 750ml format at age 28+ No hurry to drink up with 10-20 years spectacular drinking ahead.
If a date, this was a 35 year old senior Goldman Sachs investment banker: Worldly, Harvard MBA intelligence and good taste with sex appeal to match.
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5th of 12, decanted 90 minutes, perfect level, half travelled cork, just off my top bottle (6/14), needed a lot of coaxing, but then lovely, energetic fruit wrapped round an iron core with secondaries developing nicely, even more persistent than long with a flavour profile effortless unfurling with even power right through to exit, aristocratic or what, scope to exhibit more complexity and develop fantail, years of interesting development ahead. VF+ (19).
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2nd Annual Sommelier Appreciation Dinner (Undisclosed Location): Starts out with a strongly smoky aroma, in fact smoky to the point of austerity like we were just sat in the smoking section (remember those?). But then some sweet fruit emerges and charges a path through the smoke like a comet. The texture is incomparably finessed and fine-knit in the fashion that distinguishes Lafite from all the other firsts and it's stacked with an array of "how did all this come from grapes?" flavors, most enticingly the funk of black truffle. It was interesting to try this just a few weeks after the '89 because many of those deeper, soil-driven flavors that knocked my socks off in the '89 are here too, just not as boldly as there's a sense in which this still has some more blossoming to do.
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Sommelier Appreciation Dinner 2019 (The Brown Residence): Absolutely gorgeous nose displaying decadent yet delicate and pure red fruit, strawberry, cherry jam, lead pencil, cedar, leather, caramel, a hint of black truffle and mineral. Perfectly integrated palate, beautifully layered rich and sweet yet pure red fruit, silky and polished, perfect amount of acidity and mineral, and a long rich yet pure red fruit driven finish. It is fascinating to compare to the perfect 86 mouton. Gorgeous slightly feminine yet expressive showing, textbook Lafite expression that we all love.
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A second bottle of this delightful wine was opened and decanted for about 3 hours until we began to consume it. The aromas and palate were essentially identical to the first bottle described below. However, only about 1/3 of this bottle was enjoyed tonight. The remaining portion of the bottle was left in the decanter and consumed the following night, and was even better than the first night. There were deeper aromas of red fruits (cherry), which carried on to the palate, along with some hints of chocolate. The rest of the TN follows the previous night, with perhaps a bigger midpalate. This is why including notes on aeration can be so helpful.
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Decanted for 2.5 hours, with sediment, and continued to evolve in the glass. Welcoming aromas of red fruit and earth. On the palate this medium plus bodied wine presented as an aged Bordeaux, with no real surprises. Red and dark red fruits, earth, leather, cigar ash, and balanced acidity, along with integrated tannins, created a satisfying mouthful. Along with the rack of lamb, it created a tried and true pairing. There is something to be said about wines that can speak with authority 30 years after vintage. Will hold, and delight, for at least another 10 years.
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Château Lafite Rothschild vertical tasting (Wine Watch, Fort Lauderdale, Florida): One of the best bottles of 1990 Lafite that I can recall. Dark ruby color. A nose of black currant, blackberry, tobacco, eucalyptus, and dark chocolate. Even better on the palate. Very complex and fantastic concentration. Seemed to improve throughout the evening. This is getting close to its peak, but will remain there for a very long time.
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Opened 2 hours before pouring. Quintessential old school Bordeaux nose with light wet saddle. Lavender, hint of rosemary, sweet mountain laurel. Flint dry, minerality lower layer. Great structure. Drinking young and bright with notes of raspberries and rhubarb.
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At first, disjointed, stemmy, roasted and harsh. Fortunately a magical transformation occurred in the Zalto. Fabulous perfume of sweet dark berry and a hint of violet. Powerful in Lafite terms, excellent concentration and depth, long finish. But after a couple of hours it started to dry out. K thought it was too young, maybe she’s right. A puzzler but if you catch it in the zone, it’s terrific.
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A Special 40th Anniversary Celebration (Restaurant Daniel, New York City): Not the most complex Bordeaux of the flight, but one that was hard to resist. Some barnyard/VA on the nose, which slowly dissipated, revealing aromas of black fruit and leather. The taste maintains a bit of that animal quality, alongside straightforward layers of dark fruits and an acidic backbone. The tannins have not softened, shortening the finish to some extent.
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Smooth as silk with lots of black fruit and lead pencil notes along with a lovely hint of violet spice on the finish. Just delicious if not as typically refined as the best vintages.
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Opened up after 2.5 hours. Black fruit, stems, tobacco, tea leaf, and truffle. This is so complete with a perfect balance between power and elegance. The fruit was so precise. Absolutely stunning tonight. The finish is long and endless. This is the wine to buy if you want to try what a great mature lafite is like. 97 pt
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No, it’s not one of the great Lafite’s because it just lacks the precision and refinement of the best vintages. However, its drinking gloriously tonight with great dark berry liquere fruit and lots of vineyard typicity with strong notes of lead pencil and pure dark earth. Also shows the round plumpness and seductive qualities of the ‘90 vintage very well. There is still a chiseled quality on the finish which bodes well for a long life and there is oodles of complexity and good mineral crunch on the finish. It kept improving in the glass and needs a 2+ hour decant to show its best. In the end, I sure wasn’t complaining much drinking this with a charred steak. 94+
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Birth year Chateau Lafite. Shy at first with a couple of dried fruit notes coming out, but opens up gracefully on the palate after a few hours. Lean, impressive structure with a freshness and balance that only a veracious artist can achieve when given the right produce and tools. And with that, one can conclude that 1990 was a year of true legends that will indeed live forever.
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Small and simple dinner gathering with some special friends, no formal notes. The bottle (actually all Bdx. we drunk tonight) had been open for approx. 4 hours. Typical claret maturing nose, leather, some fine stable notes, cassis, riper berries, red currant, lead pencil, smoke and earth. Roasted charcoal, black fruits, blackberries and black currants, some truffles, gravel, soli and leather. Very long and with riche fruit, with a very good balance and finish. Great Lafite in the making here. (96 – 99+)
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A nice monster. Typical Pauillac, a lot of black currant,graphite,tobacco leaves, still more on the fruit side but with slowly beginning tertiary aromas. Lovely to drink after six hours of decantation. I guessed Latour 1996. For the next 20 years. 97-98
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It has been at least 20 years since I have tried this, and I was expecting an austere introverted style of wine. However it was fully resolved like the 1985. Classic cool fruited Lafite with graphite and bonfire and lowish acidity. But it retains impeccable poise and balance (unlike for example Leoville Lascases in this vintage).
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Profound nose of iodine, clay, briary cherries. A rather lean structure, but persistent and consistent flavors, leading to a superb crushed granite terroir focused finish. Lovely with venison loin, roasted barley risotto, and crushed blackberries.
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So young! Needs at least 3 hours in decanter. Classic graphite lafite. Outstanding. Good body good finish. Overall in or near prime. Personal preference would be to wait another 5-8 years. Really is quite youthful. Will hold for another 30 years easy, easy....
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Magnum, hängt sowohl am ersten als auch am zweiten Tag dem Margaux hinterher. Noch verschlossener, aber mit dem etwas ruppigeren Tanningeflecht. Auch er öffnet sich am Folgetag und wird geschmeidiger, nicht unbedingt so zahm wie eine Hauskatze, aber wie ein Löwe in Gefangenschaft. Cassisfrucht dominiert, ohne wirkliche Tertiäraromen. Braucht noch ein, zwei Dekaden aus dem Format. 97
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A big wow for this one. Not high in alcohol content, but a great vine from Lafite nonetheless. This was very smooth, no sharp edges at all. A fantastic night. This is ready for prime time, just give it a good decant.
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Lafite Vertical - More Hope than Substance? (Valentino's Cucina, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): A rather subdued showing for the ‘90 Lafite, this bottle seemed much older than it age despite perfect storage since release. Quite a bit of maroon color even at the center. Subdued nose, fullish body. Started out well but as it evolved it displayed overripe notes of browning fruit and what freshness it had faded. Nothing first growth here. For a “young” Lafite this bottle was puzzling and must be just an off bottle.
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This entire flight probably would produce higher ratings if they were opened earlier. that said, the lafite was elegant, typical and a pleasure. i would give this at least 4 hours air prior to drinking
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Very elegant and etheral nose with cherries, tobacco and rose. Has a fairly light expression, where you can sense the complexity slowly appearing. However, the bottles started fading after a while. On the palate, the wine is refreshing and very elegant, but not particularly interesting.
This was my first time trying Lafite, and I must admit, I am not that impressed. It is clearly a very good and well-crafted wine, but I would have expected the wine to make a clear expression. A similar experience was noted around the table, with many people considering the 1955 Beychevelle as good or better than the Lafite.
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Color of red/orange which faded to red over time. Double decanted due to cork disintegrating and needing to be filtered out, let sit for ~3.5 hours, drank over an hour. Very phenolic nose, slight must, very pleasant, also had scents of rose and cherry. Flavors similar to nose, very phenolic up front, which resolved into cassis and cherry, then into leather after about a minute. Excellently balanced bottle of wine, low acid, medium-full body, mild-moderate tannins.
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At the Lafite Vertical Dinner, Amuse Bouche Hong Kong - This was paired with the 1989 and the 2000. The 2000 kicked them both into touch with both the 1989 and 1990 disappointingly flat and perhaps a little more evolved than you'd expect from a First Growth.
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A little disappointed. Felt a little muted. Plenty of elegance, but not a lot of fruit or anything else to really make me go "wow". Maybe just an off bottle.
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Decanted for 3 hours. Very on point nose of cedar, cassis, tobacco leaf and spice. The palate was really singing despite showing youthful and full of vigor. Very satiny and caressing while simultaneously delivering fine grain tannins. Excellent showing.
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Mature and profound. Pungent aromas of cedar and black cardamom. Rosewater, ink, cassis, plum, and mocha. Raspberry acidity. Still dense and intense, with strong tannins.
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elegance in a bottle, still young but quite drinkable, tannins are integrated and secondary and tertiary waves of flavor are there giving a wonderful lift to this wine
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A deep, dark ruby color with minimal lightening of the edges. The nose was inviting, with cassis, leather, sous bois, basil, violets, and espresso. It wasn't quite as strong on the palate, but there was still nice tension. The balance was quite excellent, with the tannins marrying quite well. Interestingly, I saved a bit of this for the next day, and it was considerably better on the second day (just as the 89 La Mouline was).
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This has one of the most delightful bouquets I have ever experienced. Truly exceptional. Powerful cassis, mushroom and pencil lead. Garnet colored with pronounced bricking. This is a powerful old world wine that is layered and nuanced. Cassis, red currant, wet leaves, stone, graphite and a hint of coffee grinds. This wine was double decanted and swirled off and on for 2 hours. The last sip was the best as it was still evolving. Definitely at its peak, but with many years still to go.
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Flash note. A flash note is one that I distinctly remember the quality/overall rating of a wine but can’t give specifics because the tasting note was not written at time of tasting.
This 1990 was waning a bit. Waited for it to gain flavor/strength but it never fully arrived. Drink ‘em if you got ‘em.
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Opened at the Harwood Arms in London. Decanted and enjoyed over dinner.
Absolutely stunning Lafite in a great phase. Beautiful nose of red and black fruits, balanced by classic notes of cassis and graphite. Tannins were beautifully integrated but the wine still had a lot of structure. Went down extremely smoothly and had a long, lingering finish.
Will keep for a while, but also don't hesitate to drink up - this is in a really good spot.
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Tasted blind, on the nose was a little tight in the beginning but opened up in the glass to reveal earthy mushroom notes, with a bit of cassis, graphite, and gun powder. I could sit and smell this wine all night and be happy... In the mouth this is a wine with massive structure and very long finish. There was a dominant herbaceous (slightly green) character on the attack, that leads to red fruits, floral, truffle, there was so much to like about this wine, and with the huge structure I feel this wine has many years to go, and may justify a higher score in the future. My 2/4 Group 2/4
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First growth dinner (Cafe Maxx, Pompano Beach, Florida): Elegant weight. Light ruby color. A nose that shows real class. Very floral, eucalyptus, mushroom, red fruits. Light on its feet. Just kept improving with time. Clean on the nose and palate.
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Perfect cork , decanted 4 hours , the wine doesn't show any sign of age , brilliant garnet color , nose of blackberry, cherries, earth, on the palate aristocratic elegance but anyway intense taste, balanced, smooth tannins, very long finish
right, this my issue, we all find vintages that for some reason don't float our boat - and Lafite 1990 and me, just don't see eye to eye. My opinion is not based on original release stock. I have only tasted ex-cellars, reconditioned stock. And, I have to be honest. On almost every occasion I have been unimpressed. I know it was a generous vintage, and the yield was plump, but the wine is always tough, shallow, and confused. Its got no core, yet shows bags of Lafite/Milon smoke and minerality - wheres the fruit? seems stretched to me!
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Lafite Vertical: Like the 89 drunk tonight, the 90 failed to live up to its pedigree. I've generally liked the 90, but have never liked it as much as others (critics, drinkers). A good wine, and this bottle was in great shape. Just not memorable. Two bottles opened tonight, with consistent results.
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Tasted blind. I called a Chateau Margaux 1990. Beautiful and memorable wine. This was my WOTN. Very classy, almost feminine, with an intense nose, smooth tannins and very long finish. Quite a treat.
Although there is much to like, this wine usually leaves me wanting more. Both nose and palate initially present the potential of a much better wine, but neither able to follow up.
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Appearance - the cap was slightly indented and nicked. Cork pulled out and separated last 10%. It was moist up to rim. Rim was dry. Decanting. Small amount of sediment left in bottle but fairly impressive given the age of the wine.
It's slightly hazy, color is medium garnet.
Nose - beautiful. Sense it will only open with air. Clean, medium intensity, developing. Smelling red and black fruits, some floral, graphite, cigar box, lead pencil. Baking spice aromas. Cedar. Getting some chocolate.
Palate - dry, medium acidity, medium tannins - well integrate, alcohol is medium, body is medium, flavor intensity is medium, flavor profile include ripe red and black fruit. Currants, cherries, fruit is still quite strong, it's a 3 minute wine and still going. It's just beautiful. It explodes in beautiful flavor on mid palate. Got more maturity on nose than on palate. Still so much fruit and feels very young. Supports more aging potential. I would argue medium plus finish.
This is wonderful. The question now is how long we can let it sit without taking little tastes to see how it keeps developing. Too bad it's our. only bottle.
Wow.
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At a dinner party. Storage not perfect and cork crumbled but in perfect condition. Lovely bouquet. Firm, well balanced but lacking real first growth quality. Too powerful to be elegant but not powerful enough in depth and flavour. Will last for another 20 years at least if properly stored. As with all trophy wines way over priced.
This was a bit closed and I have suspicions that it may have slightly suffered from a weak cork--it was very wet up to 3/4 the length of the cork, but dry around the rim. Anyway, closed or not, it showed all the classic signs of Lafite, but much less exuberant than the Margaux, Cos, and Pichon. Notes of Clove, exotic spices, nettles, rocky gravelly minerals, forest floor and berries. Elegant but structured, perfect weight in the mouth. At 25 years, I figure this is 1/2 into its life if not more. I am dying to open another bottle to see if this is shut down or bottle variation. Still quite wonderful and was the WOTN for some. 92-93, with potential for 94-95. High-End Bordeaux Tasting at Monopole.
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Drank at 67 Pall Mall We decided to drink a 1990 Haut Brion and a 1990 Lafite side by side. This was a wonderfully opportunity to see which one we preferred. Both are amazing with incredible complexity and depth. The Lafite is slightly more polished and refined like a city gent. The Haut Brion is more mature with some slight rough edges like a country squire. Both changed through the course of the evening offering us many different notes and tastes. We all preferred the Haut Brion to the Lafite but only by one point because it was more interesting. Both are incredible wines.
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1989 vs. 1990 Bordeaux (Vaucluse): 89 vs 90 tasting. Wow! What a nose! Awesome notes of graphite and pencil shavings. A panoply of flavors in the mouth. A massive fruit bowl. Loved this wine and thought it was much better than the 89.
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A relatively mature bottle with less of the fresh earthiness and high note savories that I expected, however with notable dark fruit, dry leaves and tobacco. 93-94
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Surprisingly young nose of bright red cherry and intense blackberry and currant. Pleasant notes of mint intermittent throughout as well. Palate provides great balance and is in an agreeable spot for drinking right now but is still a little hot with big tannins suggesting this is still a little young. More developed notes of mature red and black cherry and some leathery cranberry emerge after spending more time with it.
Madison Offline 2015; 8/27/2015-8/29/2015: Consumed blind as a ringer alongside a lineup of Unicos. Youthful garnet-cherry color virtually identical to the Unicos. Similar elegant mouthfeel, superb balance, fine fruits and silky tannins. Yet the nuances of tobacco and exotic spices, and the lack of caramelized oxidative notes, made it easy for everyone to spot this as the ringer. Great wine, its similarities and contrasts helped to highlight, at least for me, some of the qualities of the Unicos.
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Throwndown in Madtown; 8/27/2015-8/29/2015 (Madison, WI): Double blind. Nose of pipe tobacco, pencil shavings, red currant, black currant, red currant, with hints of mocha. On the palate, seamless with cranberry, pie cherry, red currant, hints of tobacco and lots of spicy oak elements. Nice balanced finish with great grip. Very young yet, could improve with more age.
4th of 12, perfect cork and fill, essentially as noted in June 2014, with same wonderful, aristocratic flavour profile, just slightly less energy to the fruit, so shaded the marking to same as for sensationally good Cos drunk the previous weekend....even so the Lafite is the better wine on potential (as it should be!). Very fine plus (19/20).
Enjoyed well after closing time on a certain curved porch in Lincoln. Elegant and balanced. The fruit was fresh on the nose and the palate. Real vitality and energy. Very smooth tannins. A real treat.
One of the most superb wines I've ever had. Decanted for about 1 hour. The nose was exquisite with roses, cherry and possibly mushroom. Very smooth and opulent on the palate with very fine tannins. Initially some currant but then comes the expected cedar and lead pencil. WOW! This is among the 5 greatest red wines I have ever tasted.
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If you want to introduce someone to an example of truffle profile in the form of a wine, this wine should be your first choice. I don't think that I have ever seen a better example of suave truffle in the nose or the flavor profile of a wine. The warmth and softness of the wine lets the truffle take over and linger, as it gives way to antique cedar and fruit. Fully mature, fully awesome!
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This is a fine wine. But for a First Growth selling for the money it does, it falls short. Everything is there, the nose, palate and finish, but where is the excitement and energy needed for this much money? There are selling wines, and drinking wines. This is more of the first, and less of the last.
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Decanted for 3+ hours. Fragrant nose of blackcurrant, cedar, lead. Very light and elegant on the palate, tannins soft and in the background, very long finish. Lovely.
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The wine pours an inkish grey color with moderate bricking at the edges. It has very long legs with minimal sediment. On the nose, the wine is a classic left banker. It exhibits much poise, with a concentrated scent of preserved plums, leather, lead pencil shavings, moderate black fruit and kirsch. Surprisingly, it is somewhat light in structure and the mineral backbone dominates. There are flavors of shiitake mushrooms, blackberries, cinnamon, truffles and raspberry jam. The wine is very balanced - light yet powerful. The finish is complex and very long, lasting almost 45 seconds to a minute. Super stuff.
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Almost like a masculine pinot noir. Supremely elegant and balanced. Extremely silky tannins - mouthfeel was umami, as if the wine was "dancing" on the palate. Very delicate and refined wine, showing dark and red fruits like cranberries, blackcurrant, cherries. French oak is evident but seamlessly integrated. Hints of chocolate, vanilla, and earth. Acidity is still fresh and high - mouth watering indeed. Very clean on the palate. Not really my idea of a "perfect wine" (noting that this is Lafite from an excellent vintage) but nonetheless a real treat.
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Blind tasted after 3 hours in a decanter at Richard's afternoon reception.
The nose immediately says this is far from a everyday Bordeaux - lovely complex aroma. On the palate, rich concentrated flavor, long finish - but not wow.
A snapshot glass at 3 pm perhaps does not do it justice, and still so young.
Lovely aroma.
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A Great French Dinner (Indianapolis, IN): Really tight when opened. 10+ hours later, including 6+ in the glass, offering up beautiful cassis, hints of coffee, earth. Still a baby, but textbook Pauillac.
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This is a lovely Lafite that to me just lacks the usual refinement and precision found in the top vintages. Very 1990 with black fruits and a thick, opulent texture. Just beginning to show some secondary flavor development with delicious notes of lead pencil and dark spices. Finishes concentrated and complex but perhaps a bit overshadowed tonight by the other first growths. Still, a lovely Pauillac that is still on the upswing.
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3rd of 12, decanted 2 hours, all fine notes - deepish bright garnet, little development, magical nose, still quite primary with graphite and iron overlaying black fruit, med full but so persistent and complex, and with the expansion (fantail?) which comes with a very top vintage, fine grip and energy to the fruit, but balanced and almost laid back, marvellous - it pipped the 85 which also showed well. Very fine indeed (19.5/20).
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1990 Bordeaux Horizontal: Very good nose, a lot to like, exotic, some old wood, hint of forest floor and bonfire; fresh taste, slightly sweet, some development, a bit short and lacking a bit in concentration.
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HDH '90 vs '00 BDX Comparative Tasting (Chicago, IL - Spiaggia): Sheer class. That's all i can discern from my scribbled notes. Flint, subtle mint and cassis with a little darker fruit in the background. Seamless integration. Incredibly fine tannins, seductive mouthfeel. Fantastic wine early in its drinking plateau. A/A+
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Absolutely stunning wine. Drank over 4 hours with decant. Started out big and young, classic Lafite, cedar pencil, lead dark stone fruits. Smooth, balanced, long big. Opulent, rich, violet, floral, palate coating and long with great structure. Then it softened, opened up developed some cranberry, with the graphite and cedar, soft black cherry. The cranberry was a surprise. Alternated between too young and perfect. Great wine, drink now with decant or hold for 25 years.
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Birthday/Going Away Dinner (Chicago, IL): Opened, decanted and followed over roughly 4 hours. Started off very shy and perhaps a little thin, but fleshed out quite nicely with time in the decanter. Red currant and plum with cigar box, graphite and tobacco leaf aromatics. The same red fruit came through on the palate with a nice earthy quality as well. Medium body with a long balanced finish. Not a super powerful Bordeaux, but quite delicious.
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In a blind tasting, the wine shows well. The texture is silky. The fruit is of quality, with cassis, cedar, earth, cigar box and tobacco in abundance. The finish comes up a bit short. This is just starting to drink well. However, its best days are in the future. I'd give it another 5-10 more years before popping a bottle. On the positive side, the wine has clearly improved over the years. When mature, this could become a much better wine still.
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My boss brought this bottle from Europe and drank along with a '93 Penfolds Grange, '97 Ridge Monte Bello, and a '05 Cayuse Bionic Frog. The lineup wasn't meant to compare each other as so much as present some iconic wines from the New World that my boss wouldn't necessarily find in his area too often.
The '90 Lafite was the second wine tasted, after the Ridge. Despite the 3,000 mile+ journey, the Lafite was showing extremely well. The bottle was decanted at the restaurant and allowed to breathe about 45 minutes. The nose was intoxicatingly sweet and floral - pink roses to be exact -- with hints of raspberry. The palate was suprisingly light and delicate yet focused with a laser beam of red currant and cedar. I didn't even notice the finish. I just kept smelling it and taking sips. I could have drunk the entire bottle. At the end of the evening, the aromas became earthier and leathery. What a fantastic experience. My only other experience with Lafitte were other friends' 2002. It's a shame that some people mix 7-up with this wine.
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Got black pepper and soy, even smpoked duck...not as powerful as I would have assumed, and did not impress me the way the Lynch Bages and Pavie did, although we are really talking about degrees of greatness here.
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A little reticent when first opened, but soon became a flowering beauty. Open knit for Lafite, beautiful fragrance. More red cherry than black. Excellent texture, easy to drink, almost fully ready although deep in color. Should drink well for many years to come.
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Excellent color with an expressive nose of graphite, dark berries and roasted nuts. Needed a good 2-hour decant and then developed a lovely, silky texture. Fairly full-bodied with delicious flavors of black fruits, charred cedar and graphite minerals. Finishes with a lovely note of lead pencil shavings. Perhaps a slightly chunky rather than elegant version of Lafite but this is still aging nicely and will be a lovely drink in 5+ years. 93+
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Parents' 54th Anniversary (Pearl Liang): the aromas really wanted to explode but somehow seemed a bit wrapped up, perhaps not enough decant time. it's like Adele singing with a blocked nose. poor glassware didn't help.
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This was my WOTN on this evening. Pure cassis on the nose. Then comes the lead pencil and cedar cigar box. Gorgeous fruit here. The mouthfeel is close to perfect. Wow. Long, harmonious, and displaying tremendous balance. A very expensive (now), but very worthy wine!
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La Commanderie de Bordeaux à Vancouver - 1988, 1989, 1990 Red Bordeaux (CinCin Restaurant): Wow…game over with this nose. I could declare this my WOTN just from the smell. An intoxicating and purely classic Bordeaux nose of cedar, some poopy funk with unadulterated cassis, blackcurrant and plum fruit and maybe a hint of floral. Just an incredibly complex, pure and classic nose. In the mouth, once again, classic cedar notes wrapped in a nimble yet muscular frame of plum, blackcurrant and dark cherries. Silky, balanced and very long. It’s subtle yet powerful, elegant yet muscular. This has the best nose, palate and texture of all the wines tonight. Going into this I almost wanted to not like this wine, but alas, it’s incredibly good. It’s drinking very well now but has at least a decade left of development to go. Outstanding. 95+
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Total value for money. After 1 hour on caraf. dissapointet. But then after 3 hours - wouw. All the right things for a great Bordeaux, great nose, great taste....
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1/2 bottle during Dinnner at Palais Coburg, Vienna. Typical Pauillac nose, strong bouquet, mild fruit and freshness. Very smooth, well-balanced but a bit bitter esp. with food. Good length, mild tannin, structure ok but not impressive. Medium bodied. Although a typical 1st growth quality but really no good or impressive surprise.
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Side by side with a Las Cases 1990 and a Gruaud Larose 1990, all from good sources and well cared for, the Lafite was the loser. It won't lose forever but right now it is hiding what it will become, even after being decanted and aired for a couple of hours. This wine needs more time, maybe 5 more years before it will shine and show its proper potential.
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First Growth Night 2011 (PRIMA): Tasted blind. Earthy nose. In the mouth earth meets fruit, showing slight bitter orange secondary flavors, has nice fine grained tannins, with a good broad finish. A quality wine.
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Very soft and subtle. Perfect balance, awesome minerality, w characteristic graphite soil flavors. From double-mag. Drinking as well as one could imagine.
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Taste at IV. Really elegant subtle red berry aromas. Rustic with a nice sous bois note. Some light cigar box and earth. The palate shows well. Limited notes.
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From magnum, served blind. Dark red color. Nose was distinctly California in style: plenty of up-front fruit, a hint of graphite, and plenty of cedar. In the mouth, an improbably velvety texture that allowed for an expansive, notably ripe palate that was fruit-forward and easy drinking to come to the forefront. At the same time, the wine was distinctly evolved, with mature notes of damp earth, cedar, mushroom, and herbs surrounding the rich black fruit. The mouth feel was exceptional, and it was very surprising when the wine was revealed -- I would have put money on it being a superb 1980s California Cabernet. This didn't have the signature graphite nose of Lafite, but it was a marvelous wine nonetheless. A
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Tasted side-by-side with 1990 Latour. Very impressive nose of dark red fruit, with an unusual streak of something close to ripe camembert. Relatively full-bodied (compared to the Latour), with a strong note of bright cherry upfront, showing almost no age. However, the wine falls somewhat flat on the midpalate, and the length is disappointingly short. A very fine wine indeed, just not quite in the same league as the Latour (at least on this particular showing).
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A bit of a disappointment. The wine is good. But, at least to me, it's not First Growth in quality. Elegant in style, with its cedar and cassis profile, the fruit is high quality offering a lush mouth feel. But, the finish is moderate and there is not enough concentration to make this really exciting. With another decade, the wine will develop additional complexities, but at least to me, it will never offer a First Growth experience
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The bottle was opened 1 hour before drinking and was decanted. The initial nose was flower perfume. On the palate mature fruit was held in balance by the tannins. After an hour the wine had changed dramatically with tobacco and leather replacing the perfume. The tannins were dominant but not unpleasant. This was a wonderful experience.
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Matt's pre-birthday dinner (Matt's house): Three hour decant. Next to '95 Clerc Milon and '99 Peter Michael Les Pavols. Clear favorite of the reds. The nose firm but refined slight barnyard, lead, mature red fruit. Gorgeous tar, lead pencil, blueberry, and chocolate in the mouth with excellent balance of tannin and acidity. Super elegant. Much delight with the long-ish finish which seemed to roll gently from the front to the back then to the front of the mouth.
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Tasting "Domaines de Rothschild" at the Rheingau Gourmet Festival, early Mar 2010: rubin color; leather, cedar, cassis, tobacco, some chocolate, coffee, and yes, pencil; medium body; round texture; smooth finish.
Believe it or not the most expensive wine of the tasting was the best.
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Tight and closed. It was hard to see what this wine will offer in the future. Clearly this needs a decade or two before coming around. But, will it be worth the wait? Scored for potential.
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Ran's 40th Birthday Extravaganza (Israel): Dark and almost impregnable. Pencil lead and cedar galore, along with dried herbs - thyme, sage, hint of eucalyptus. A highly-structured wine with a great midpalate of stone fruit, raspberry and blackcurrant, which were increasingly revealed with air along with floral elements. A class act, with years still ahead of it.
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This wine is getting more serious as it ages and it still needs tons of time. Nice thick texture with lovely lead pencil notes and black fruits. Elegant, classy and suprisingly rich. 94+
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Thanks for the taste, Paul! Showing both youthfulness and readiness. Gorgeous tobacco nose, soft, not tannic at all palate. Knowing the wine's reputation, it will probably last decades and decades.
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Outstanding bottle of wine. This was decanted 2 hours prior to a wine dinner of first growth's. Dark red ruby in color. The nose of the wine is unbelievable. Cherries, blackcurrant and blackberry. A nice finish to the wine as well. A real star.
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Laid back dinner with Co-Workers (Semiramis, Chicago IL): nose: this took a good while to get going, and sat in the decanter for about 2-3 hours. As it opened up, what emerged was the essence of finesse and precision with lovely perfumes just emitting out of the glass along with deep and nuanced tones of red cherries, red and black currants, tobacco, bits of leather and some beautiful tones of violets that just seem to lurk underneath. Beautiful and so balanced that you really need to focus on what is going on to try to understand it
taste: ever so elegant with a beautiful medium/full feel and good tannins letting you know that this wine isn't fully ready yet for primetime. Deft and silky with pure tones of berries, red cherries, red and black currants, leather, cedar, violets and some bits of cigar tobacco
overall: as can be ever so customary, the last sip was the best sip. This was continuously growing in the glass and enveloping the senses with its beauty. Ever so pure, this took a while to fully get going, and when it did, you just needed to let it do the talking. Beautiful and still getting better, this still needs some more time to fully let loose
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Ten Years Ago: Side by side of the 89 and 90 Lafite tonight, both out of magnum. The crowd was about 9 to 1 in preferring the 89. I thought the 89 was smoother, a bit more relaxed than the 90, and had a more approachable sweetness. The 90 is still a bit brooding, and while certainly in its drinking window, will benefit from further ageing.
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Private dinner with friends. (@ PVa): This is so much better than the Mouton of the same vintage. Still powerfull, but also soft and refined. Now great, but certainly has a future of several years.
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Raid the Cellar Party at BWB. Stunning. This was in my top 3 of the night. So fresh and still a baby. Much less evolved than the 89 Petrus and as usual, much more feminine. Really a fine, elegant wine.
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Although very closed , with much coaxing, it served up scents of lead pencil, minerals, oak and fruit. Aside from being closed down, the elements did not integrate for me. It seemed disjointed and was light, even by Lafite standards. The wine improved in the glass, but it was not First Growth quality
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Graduation wines (Columbus, OH): More elegant, classic Lafite style. Red fruit and graphite. Medium-bodied and really well balanced throughout. Delicious with a great future.
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Wine Pot Luck 03 Chave, 90 Lafite, 85 Groth Reserve et al: Amazing that this wine had been stored in my girlfriends closet for seven years. I expected it to be done, but it was still young and powerful. Classic cedar and sandalwood nose with lead shavings on the palate. If I had more I would not open another for 15 years. I can't imagine how slowly properly aged bottles would be progressing.
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A post Holiday dinner with coworkers (nyc): This opens with a great nose, intensely liquory with ripe green herbs, smoke, tar, oakier but with great depth even a bit of grapey/grape pip fruit, develops a bit of ass while adding notes of mint and cigar box. Classic ripe vintage aromatics. In the mouth this is brighter than the 89 with more soft tannin, notes of olive oil, black olives and cedary wood on the attack backed up by a luch, ripe mouth feel. Still fairly tight and ungiving but with all the raw materials to be great. the balance here is particularly noteworthy. This needs many years to come into it's own. I'll try another bottle in 5 years or so but the nuance, subtlety, and finesse all bode very well indeed.
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A wonderful Lafite. Double decanted before dinner, the wine continued to open and evolve in the glass. While the 1995 and 1996 Lafites offered more power, at this point neither can match the elegance of the 1990. Leathery notes and a certainly earthiness serve as a perfect complement to a mature core of fruit. Fantastic wine.
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Consumed along with '90 Margaux and '90 Haut Brion at The Gotham Bar and Grill. This is a really good bottle of wine. It's just not a great bottle of wine. Tannins are still a little rough, not quite balanced. Some cedar flavors, good length. On it's own, no problem. But against both the Margaux and Haut Brion, a lot of juice stayed in the glass.
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Shows a powerful nose of graphite and freshly sharpened pencils. It’s powerful on the palate with notes of raspberry, cedar, blackberry, more graphite, and earthiness. There’s good acidity and a certain tartness in this wine. The finish is quite long and possesses a powerful blackberry note. Quite well structured.
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Huh. Much better that my last bottle. Maybe the previous reviews have been a little harsh. The 3 hours of decanting really helped. Has more of the cedar wood scents and flavors, cigar box, etc. Medium to medium-long length, paired well with grilled filet mignon topped with a mushroom sauce.
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medium depth of color, some lightening at the rim. at first the nose was reticent, but it did open to reveal some mint, cassis, some tosted oak, paulliac and lafite like scents. this rounded out well on the palate. not a blockbuster, ready to drink, from this bottle i would have to say, ready now and not likely to get much better.
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At a tasting that featured the 01, 95, 94, 90, 85, 83, and 79 this was the clear winner. If it was dormant, it isn't any longer -- it offered up a fabulously complex nose and was beautifully well-rounded on the palate. Time to start drinking these if you've got 'em!
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The 1990 Lafite Rothschild is one of the greatest wines I have had the pleasure to taste. While not as tasty as the 1982 the 1990 holds up quite clearly amongst the best. This vintage was made, perhaps intentionally, with the "American Drinker" in mind. Powerful, bold, and full bodied in a new world sort of way.
Cassis, liquorice, and violets are some of the flavours discussed. Awesome balance of fruit and acidity will ensure at least another 10 years of ageing potential.
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HDH Pre-Auction Tasting (Chicago Athletic Club): Wine tasting. Very primary nose shows red and black cherry and plum with some hints of tobacco. Palate shows mostly the same fruit, perhaps less red cherry. Sensational structure with both tannins and acidity providing great emphasis on the finish. Hold to at least 2010, probably 2020 with real upside going forward.
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Tio Góe Velho Mundo x Novo Mundo (Enoteca Fasano): Intense, beautiful dark rubi with brick borders. The nose was so complex, still some good signs of fruit alongside all the cedar, graphite, leather, so many things. The palate is perfectly balanced, a gorgeous wine. I would say it has further aging to the top, but one can already get lost on this masterpiece.
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Pre-Parker warmup dinner at Citronelle (Washington DC): People were VERY excited about this wine, but to me it seemed nice yet pedestrian. The nose is exotic, insane with textbook notes of cedar and amazing structure.
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HDH Pre-Auction Tasting (Chicago IL): Wine tasting. Reticent nose seems very backward, same with the palate. Black cherry and plum with a dense woodsy character. Probably needs another 20 years, but I think this will become a much better wine vs. anything that could be coaxed out today.
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Dinner at Rubicon and a surreal pre-tasting (San Francisco, CA): The nose screams of black fruit with notes of honey and a roasted, ripe quality. The palate is big bruising with a nice layering of flavors. The finish is very long with loads of graphite. The seemed to be awfully young though and seemed to clamp down a lot with more air. I found it a bit tough to evaluate.
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Copenhagen Tasting Group welcomes Tom in DC; 9/5/2004-9/10/2004 (Copenhagen): Dark red colour with some clearing at the rim, and a little bit of sediment. Notes of ink with an alcoholic nature to the bouquet. In the mouth the wine was juicy and delicious with very good and precise acid and balance. The complexity left a little bit to be desired for a really high score, but in all this was a very nice drink, and I would say that now is as good a time as any to open a bottle. In my opinion this wine is better than it's reputation, although it is not blockbuster-Lafite.
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Delicious. A medium weight Lafite. Not much complexity yet but the purity of the fruit is impressive. Charming. Might develop but it’s delicious right now.
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5/2/2024 - atlantisssss wrote: 98 Points
Birthday Dinner. Got lucky with a perfectly stored bottle. The wine has incredibly vibrant fruit left in it despite its (our) age - this great wine easily has 10 years of peak drinking window left in it.
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4/21/2024 - mflesh wrote: 99 Points
Served right by a 1988 DRC St Vivant, this 1990 Ch Lafite Rothschild took the DRC to 10 rounds, and then punched it out in the 11th. Honestly hard to compare this wine to a DRC since they were quite a bit different (Pinot...vs. --> 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 13% Cabernet Franc in the Ch. Lafite). The combination is incredible. 75% of CellarTracker's inventory is in cellar at the time of this TN, and I think I kind of understand why. My previous experience almost 10 years ago with this very same vintage under questionable provenance was quite a bit different, so it again goes to show you that provenance after bottling is absolutely #1. That experience was a smoky ashtray. This one was near to being otherworldy, and one of a few 99's that I have ever given a wine (only one 100 in 4700 wines). This wine had been allowed to decant for about 4 hours before anyone got to it. Opulent red fruit abounds here in the nose and palate with a hint of black fruit. Nose with a smoky char about it with a hint of saddle leather but a ton of red fruit crush. On the palate, There was an ashy note that was definitely more in the background, but this resembled more of the pencil shaving and graphite notes I see with a lot of these well made Bordeaux. Smoked tobacco, black cherry, cassis, fig tart, herbal notes, black tea, red licorice up front, and then black licorice that developed as this wine sat on the palate. Slightly charred sweet cedar tannin with mild black pepper notes. Really delectable, right on the line of full bodied, although I still get a lot of rather "feminine" notes here which made this one dance with the seared grouper and lamb stew which were its food accompaniment. A 70th birthday celebration of a wine friend, with this and the 88 DRC St. Vivant both the stars of the show. Not worthy! If you're lucky to have a case of this wine, and have not yet cracked it open, it's time to get the crowbar out. Drink one every two years until it's done, and it won't let you down. Drink now or hold for 30 years.
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4/17/2024 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
Bottles donated from the Lafite Rothschild cellar. Seriously good! The nose draws you in with such pure cassis fruit, violet florals and lead pencil. Luscious fruits surround the high tensile, graphite spine. It is rich and voluminous yet so focused and detailed. It is fresh, youthful and has terrific length.
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4/14/2024 - MichielV wrote: 95 Points
At Renee and Gerry (+Melissa and Andrew). With great salmon dish. What a spectacular bottle. Super fresh. Great color, nose and the whole thing. No words to describe how great this is. Super long life left but why wait. Very spoiled that i got to drink this.
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3/24/2024 - G SQUARED Does not like this wine: 85 Points
Must’ve been a bad bottle. Lean, austere, lacking fruit. Decanted for two hrs to see if it helped. A little but not to the extent it should have.
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2/22/2024 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
(Not a) birthday dinner (Hinsdale, IL): To be sure, not at the level of the ex-domaine bottle at a HDH tasting a few years back. Others felt it thin, and they were right. But that is more a statement relative to great bottles of this wine, but this is nevertheless incredible Bordeaux (though not at the level of Latour). This is everything that you want in a Pauillac -- all that cedar, leather, and dark fruit. It's still intense and brilliant with tons of complexity and still a fair bit of grainy tannin. This is one of the best vintages of this generally overrated estate.
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2/4/2024 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
The best example of this wine I have ever tasted was simply beautiful. The dried flowers, cedar, tobacco, and spicy red currant perfumed notes were the perfect introduction. The palate was clearly its equal, as the textures balanced suppleness, with vibrancy, refinement, and elegance, finishing with purity in the red fruits and almost soft, creamy tannins. Just starting to wake up, this is going to age for decades. Drink from 2024-2060.
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1/27/2024 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Whole Lotta Lafite; 1/26/2024-1/27/2024 (Wine Watch, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): While this bottle was not nearly as impressive as one from last month it still proves 1990 is a highly successful vintage for Lafite with no roasted or green characteristics. Questionably high in alcohol on the palate which fortunately only detracts very slightly. Creamy texture. Ripe but not overripe. Just lacking the focus of the best bottles. In its early maturity stage and the one to reach for if you want to drink Lafite without too much risk.
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12/23/2023 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Rather shy at first, gradually unveiling its charms as it breathes. Lots of black cherry fruit, excellent acidity, medium tannins. Needs a few more years to achieve focus but delicious already.
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11/19/2023 - englishman's claret wrote:
In keeping with my June 2022 tasting note, this remains quite unevolved. There’s Lafite personality to be sure, and the cassis, cedar pencil, sandalwood, gingerbread notes in moderate volume are pleasant… but I think we’re all looking for more than pleasant with Lafite. And Lafite has more than pleasant to offer. But it’s important to stop drinking these for now. Drink something else. Wait for these.
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11/18/2023 - chalongp Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted 3 hours. Still relatively young for it's age and should be able to open up more. However, good balance overall and showing a lot of complexities on the nose and palate. Medium long finish.
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11/11/2023 - WildeMeeuw wrote: flawed
AAAAAAAARGH!
Extremely corked!
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11/10/2023 - Quiet Lion Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted briefly. Nice mature fruit in the body with excellent structure, stately and refined. No rush; possibly a bit more softening and integration with a couple more years or longer decant. I wouldn't be afraid to decant for two hours.
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10/28/2023 - johnh1001 wrote: 96 Points
Extraordinarily well integrated. Dark fruit, Cassis, lead pencil earth. Spectacular balance, and length. This one does not get as much press is it deserves.
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10/26/2023 - Gregmonroe wrote:
Un Repas en Cuisine - GD host (City Club FW - Chef's Table): Tasted single blind - Easily identifiable as Bordeaux with first sniff. Such a beautiful nose of cedar, cherry, black olive, leather, currant. The slightest bricking, but a beautiful color in the glass, with decent transparency and no sediment (at least in my glass). Dark fruits on the palate, with hints of mushrooms, leather, and other tertiary flavors. A beautiful wine. Still medium + tannins, and an incredibly long finish. In a perfect spot, and of the 1990 first growths I've tried, this one is top of the list (I still have a couple to go).
Edit - this was my top wine of 2023.
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8/12/2023 - djhammond Likes this wine: 98 Points
This is a 100 point wine in waiting, and why it is under the radar is beyond me. This can easily go head to head with the 82 and 86. Blackcurrant, cedar, and leather define the wine, and with time in the glass it is heady and deeply seductive on the nose. The tannin still needs further evolvement, but the palate is exquisitely balanced, and with extraordinary depth. The finish is other worldly, and pushed past 120 seconds. I half expect I will wake up tomorrow morning and find it continuing.
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7/19/2023 - BostonRedtuna wrote: 97 Points
Holy shit worth every penny
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7/7/2023 - James Kim Likes this wine: 93 Points
Unknown for how long this was decanted. Aromas of cassis, plums, mild green pepper and mild green stems. Lovely elegant palate with cassis, currants, green pepper and stems, with some herbs and earth. Med body with elegant mouthfeel and nice acids. Nice herbal, fruity, mineral finish. Surprised at how much ripe, fresh fruit the wine still had given that it's over 30 yrs old. But the wine also has nice complexity. I imagine that more age will give the wine even more complexity than now. Great drink now but would love to taste the wine again in another 5 or even 10 years. 93+
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5/28/2023 - Cbailey501 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Simply stunning wine leaving me almost speechless. Nose was cassis-driven with cedar and hints of leather while the palate was tertiary dark fruits, perfectly balanced acid and dusty tannins with a long finish of all of the above integrated together. I bought this wine in 1993 for $95 and have been saving it for a special occasion, in this case, a very big birthday milestone celebrated with my family. The wine is perfect now, but I'm sure will keep for years.
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5/25/2023 - GuWin wrote: 95 Points
BYO Litteraturhuset "Best Wine": Dyp mørk farge, svak utvikling mot murstensfarget kant. Fabelaktig pauillac-duft av sedertre, solbær og blyantspiss, et svakt røykpreg og et snev av urter. Åpner noe forsiktig men drar skikkelig på med stor kraft og fylde, stram og kompakt frukt med et herlig mørkt bærpreg. Stor vin uten å være brautende - elegant tanninstruktur, energisk og med lang smakskurve, "mineralsk" blir nevnt, jeg kjenner salttoner godt integrert i fruktbildet. En av kveldens lengste smakskurver - vanskelig å svelge unna.
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5/23/2023 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Smells and tastes much like lafite. Always stiffer and more impact full. This is really delicious- cut like $3,000 suit that your gonna wear casually anyway.
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5/20/2023 - Dibbs Likes this wine: 99 Points
Jason's belated Birthday: This bottle might have been the best wine of my life. Absolutely peerless!
The nose was beguiling, could have smelled it for hours even without tasting it, and would have been satisfied. Then on the palate, it is just majestic, drinking at peak without question. Majestic and a sexy sexy wine!
This would have been my first 100 points but taking that 1 point off because don't think this is gonna have the longevity of the 90 Margaux, Cheval, or Latour given they are just at the start of their peak, this wine is at the top already. But given the pricing for the 82 and 96 vintages of Lafite, this is really underpriced.
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5/19/2023 - pclin wrote: 98 Points
This was head and shoulders better than everything else tonight. Initially with slightly high acidity and edgy, one hour later, this was smooth, silky and nearly perfect on the palate, probably close to its peak. Simply majestic. Drinking better than ‘90 Margaux now but I think Margaux will eventually overtake Lafite. Single blind. 98+
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5/6/2023 - M.Batard wrote: 94 Points
Decanted 90 minutes ahead, from magnum. Deep ruby, with little sign of age. Classic cassis, with a subdued note of leather. Silky and long. Lovely, but not overly ‘knock-your-socks-off’ …Paired with grilled lamb
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4/30/2023 - The Andrews wrote:
Decanted for three hours and tasted along the way. Nose was graphite, dark cherries, and classic Lafitte reserve. Palette was tight-ish but loosened up after a few hours in the decanter. Fill was into the neck and this seemed to be a perfect bottle. Not a blockbuster but beautiful bottle of claret. Fully mature but not over the hill. Truly enjoyable experience. 95-96.
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4/3/2023 - Yagil wrote: 94 Points
Super-premium Bordeaux Tasting (at my home): Opened and lowered to shoulder 4 hour prior to tasting.
Deep ruby color with a touch of garnet at the rim. The nose is complex and intense, with aromas of black currant, blackberry, leather, cedar, tobacco, and a hint of graphite.
On the palate, this wine is full-bodied and concentrated, with firm tannins and a velvety texture. The flavors are rich and layered, with notes of black fruit, cassis, dark chocolate, espresso, and a touch of smoke. The finish is long and elegant, with a persistent aftertaste of black cherry and vanilla.
Excellent wine, though now a big WOW.
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3/3/2023 - cypra Likes this wine: 95 Points
Not very dark colour, but no sign of brown. Decanted one hour. Elegant in the nose, clear tannins, nice fruit and freshness,completly integrated. Dark berries, rose, herbs in the nose. Solid tannins, minerality, freshness and friut on the palate combined to a very elegant claret. Very long, eclectic finish. Not a real blockbuster, but very fine and elegant claret. I do not expect an improvemnt with further cellaring.
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3/1/2023 - Burgundy Al wrote: flawed
Pre-Paulee Warm-up Dinner (House of Nanda - Chicago IL): ...and the replacement bottle for the corked 1990 Château Lafite Rothschild was also corked
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3/1/2023 - Burgundy Al wrote: flawed
Pre-Paulee Warm-up Dinner (House of Nanda - Chicago IL): First bottle was corked, but no worries, there was a backup....
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3/1/2023 - Nanda wrote: flawed
Pre La Paulée Dinner with friends (Home): Perfect fill and great looking corked. Unfortunately corked. As was the back-up bottle.
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2/24/2023 - Marc S wrote: 91 Points
- Brick color with medium forming legs. It's balanced and has flavours of strawberry and black currant with a medium/full body. Smooth texture with a medium finish - This wine is ready to drink in my opinion. Nose has really mellowed.
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2/18/2023 - sdr wrote: 96 Points
DrinkBordeaux’s bottle. Absolutely dazzling. Gorgeous black cherry fragrance and flavor. Luscious, rich, “hedonistic,” lightly sweet. Only medium weight but an abundance of flavor. Seems young and may develop more nuance in the years to come but so delicious now you probably don’t want to wait.
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2/4/2023 - ash_then_chase Likes this wine: 95 Points
Minty fresh, vanilla. Chewy tannins. Playful floral notes. @ Napa Boys Trip
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1/24/2023 - Ruby99 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for 30 min
Significant bricking at the rim
The nose starts out with the classic barnyard and a bit of scorched earth with wafts of raspberry and black raspberry taking over within 15 minutes.
The palate is a bit lighter/more delicate than anticipated, but the fruit is lovely raspberry and black raspberry with good complexity and length
We have one bottle left and I definitely plan to open it in the next 12-24 months
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1/11/2023 - Romol wrote: flawed
Decanted 2,5 hours. Unfortunately, the bottle had a slight cork taste. Only very subtle, so little that you could still enjoy the wine. The bottle was in perfect condition and the wine was still good. However, I now refrain from a rating, as it would not be representative.
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12/17/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote: 93 Points
Firm, reticent, classic-styled Pauillac with loads of spicy red, crisp currants, cedar, tobacco, cigar box, herbs, and forest leaves. The fruit is crunchy and the tannins are a bit on the rustic side. If you are seeking an old-school, classic with a green edge, you are going to like this more than I did. Drink from 2023-2050.
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12/6/2022 - Collector1855 wrote: 96 Points
Salon Focofi Paris walkabout and dinner, so no detailed tasting notes. From Imperial. Light, elegant, leather, bretty.
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11/13/2022 - FineWinePig wrote:
Drank with JP
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10/17/2022 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
IWFS Lafite Big Bottles (The Modern): Probably my pick for the long run wine. This was all blackberry and brambles and just a hint of secondary maybe but still quite primary. By far the most fruit in the line-up. It's a wine that I suspect could be really interesting with more time. Quite forward at the moment, but there's the stuffing for the finesse to come through as the fruit tones down a touch. From an Imperial and again, who doesn't love truly big bottles?
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10/7/2022 - rnyrny79 Likes this wine: 98 Points
This is the essence of beautiful matured Bordeaux at it’s best!
As suggested by others, it got close to 4 hours in the decanter which is needed to get it going on all cylinders. I tried small sips at 0-3 hours where it only tasted good but not great and balance-wise was a bit ackward.
It is elegant, very complex and smell and taste so great! And the best thing is, that it holds a Nice temp. range from 16-21 degrees Celcius! (But better at 16-18 oC)
Bouqet & Taste: Too many different notes to describe (see other reviews)
Pristine bottle.
Can easily go another decade! Isn’t that awesome…
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9/22/2022 - fcxj wrote: 90 Points
Uninspired with too much old bookshelf and not enough sweetness or energy. Feels bit upright.
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9/21/2022 - steinersing wrote: 97 Points
Very attractive from large formate. Graphite. Not very big wine in a good way - old world archetypical.
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9/6/2022 - Ozen Likes this wine: 96 Points
A truly great bottle this time. High ullage in the bottle, full bodied, rich, lots of life, beautiful posh red fruit, very mature and at its utter peak now like many 1990's. Great experience with friends. Holds its own next to Hudelot Beaumonts. The only remark I would make is that this vintage seems to be a bit short on the minerality dimension, so typical for Lafite, which, in my book, makes Lafite irresistible in the truly great vintages. Lovely!
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6/18/2022 - englishman's claret wrote: 95 Points
Unmistakably, classically Lafite from the start, this shows the essence of graphite-driven mineral, cool cassis, lavender, new leather, green peppercorn, and a touch of cedar. Simply a huge, pencilly, cigar-tinged palate which lingers and lingers. This is a wine of beautiful, lithe, tensile strength.
And yet - after about 40 minutes, this shuts down. Unassuming, loamy, demure. If tasted at this point, you'd feel justified in scoring it somewhere in the mid-high 80s. It starts to open back a little bit the next day, but doesn't come close to that initial song of Lafite.
So, 95-96 points, certainly... but as with other Lafite of this era (1986, 1989), this is coming around very, very slowly. This demands you be ready for it, rather than the other way around.
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6/3/2022 - Nanda wrote: 98 Points
A powerhouse of a wine with dense, opulent fruit filled with tobacco, spice and cedar. While it's powerful, the wine unfolds in layers and conveying a sense of elegance, which is amplified by suave structure. Stunner.
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5/28/2022 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
This is one of the best vintages of Lafite to drink now even though it will likely improve and gain complexity in the years to come. Lovely black and blue fruit aromatics, medium full, vibrant and satisfying. No sign of a super hot vintage. The tannins are suave. Delightful.
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5/25/2022 - jlgnml Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opulent color, very Bordeaux like, dbl decant for an hour, a bit linear initially and then the wine blossomed. Good nose, flavor and finish.
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5/8/2022 - steinersing wrote: 98 Points
Served from Imperial this was one of the best in an impressive Bordeaux line up. Expressive and open, Lafite pencil shavings. Very long. Great wine.
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5/4/2022 - dcwino wrote: 98 Points
Lafite Rothschild vertical (Taberna del Alabardero, Washington D.C.): Perfectly mature nose displaying sweet opulent black fruit with a hint of red, blackberry, crème de cassis, strawberry, caramel, cedar, lead pencil, black truffle, cinnamon and mineral. Perfectly integrate palate, layers upon layers of rich black fruit, silky and fluid, beautifully balanced and detailed, bright acidity, strong mineral, nicely integrated tannins and a seamless long rich black fruit driven finish with caramel and cedar at the end. Perhaps the best drinking Lafite of the night. Absolutely pleasing wine.
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4/24/2022 - Cailles wrote: 95 Points
48x 1990 (37x Bdx, 6x Napa, 5x others): Tasted side by side with the Latour (95+ pts). Unsurprisingly, the Lafite is all about delicacy and finesse, while the Latour is bold and beautiful. This is one of the better Lafites I‘ve had to date but it‘s not a wine for a dinner with many people or many wines. Is such a subtle wine that it seems imperative to have it alone or with just two people and follow it over hours to catch all nuances. 95 pts easily today, I‘m not sure if the wine has much more upside from here (will there be enough fruit left once all tertiary aromas kick in?).
TN: Rather muted nose. Only with time more open but always not super expressive and very delicate. On the palate this is very mineralic, so much crushed rocks, graphite, herbs and a dark fruit core. Very fine and Burgundian in style, this is all about finesse (in a Pauillac context). The concentration is impressive. The sweetness only comes out with more time. Giving the wine a good balance it didn‘t had at the start. Very complete wine with a long finish with minerality and dark berries.
Decanting: Quick double decant three+ hours prior to the tasting to remove sediment. This needed more time in the glass and some swirling to come out of its shell. Give it time, 2+ hours in the decanter at least.
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3/30/2022 - dream Likes this wine: 95 Points
This showed beautifully at the Lafite vertical dinner. It was smooth and sumptuous in the style of the vintage with supple tannins and a gorgeous texture. Quite full and round and definitely sporting the classic Lafite notes of lead pencil shavings and chiseled gravel. The finish is deeply satisfying with a nice mineral grip and excellent complexity. Perhaps doesn't show the precision of the best vintages of Lafite but for drinking tonight, it was a lot of people's favorite of the evening. Just lovely.
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3/15/2022 - B Paul wrote:
Decanted and followed over four hours. Cedar, leather, tobacco and cherry. So seamless on the palate. Really outstanding. In about the perfect spot for my tastes, though has plenty of life ahead of it.
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3/12/2022 - Elpaninaro Likes this wine:
decanted about an hour prior to serving
deepish red color only just starting to pale at the rim, cassis, violets and boxwood, cedar, a hint of cherry, lead, on the palate perfection, all that is good in the 1990 vintage and in Lafite-Rothschild is on full display here, gentle cherry notes with a whisper of animale, cedar notes around the edges of a bright aged pool of mature cassis fruit, lengthy elegant fragrant finish, despite its full body it remains calming and comforting, pristinely understated, with time a bit of bramble and pencil lead emerges, it seems a bit out of place in the modern wine scene- but for me this is the ultimate Lafite from the era I love best, savor it over dinner, skip the Port and have the last glass fireside with a good book.
*****, in perfect peak with many years of glory ahead.
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3/8/2022 - Jay A wrote:
Decanted for an hour. The wine is still young. Fruit is still prominent but after some airing the typical Lafite tobacco and leather started to appear. The wine is polished in a modern style of wine. Very sleek. For my taste you can feel the energy in the wine, but it was still too tight and wound up. It is just starting to stretch its legs, but it is no where near cruising at a steady pace yet. Immense potential for sure, but got to be patient for this one to turn into a classic Lafite.
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2/19/2022 - Fruitsrouges Likes this wine: 92 Points
Not as strong a showing as last bottle and had a hard time keeping up with the 1990 Haut Brion and especially the 1982 Mouton tasted along side. Not as harmonious and elegant as the former and not as layered as the latter. Still a wonderful wine. Would not wait.
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1/20/2022 - TU1985 wrote:
Let's see
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12/13/2021 - eschaefer Likes this wine: 91 Points
Great bottle, known provenance, fill, cork etc. good looking. Good aroma. Good taste but no power. No finish. Tobacco. Cigar smoke. Leather. Lifted spice aroma almost Burgundian. Some forest and sous bois. Fruit is Christmas fruitcake. All that is positive. Finish detracts. 90/91 but would recommend as a good 31 year old Bordeaux
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11/12/2021 - liber Likes this wine: 94 Points
6th of 12, decanted an hour, perfect cork and level, seemingly slightly tainted showing older than expected and stripping fruit flavours whilst exposing wonderful structure and tertiary flavours. This bottle F+ (18) and still preferred to 01 by most of party (usually VF+ 19 or 97).
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11/7/2021 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 97 Points
Mostly just acid and austere fruit coming through immediately after opening. 2-3 hours in the decanter and this really changed considerably, as it opened up the fruit became far more expressive, ripe and silky. By the end of the night this was delicious. I highly recommend giving this a few hours of air before you drink today.
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10/24/2021 - dkentaustin Likes this wine: 96 Points
Popped and poured. Lighter garnet with subtle amber edge. Fresh sawn wood, delicate perfume, lead pencil, currant and raspberry. Cinnamon bark and rhubarb with chalky tannins lightly coating the palate giving to an ethereal presence. Vibrant, young with good old world characteristics. Many years of complexity to come, though it’s incredible enjoyable now.
p.s. prime charcoal grilled ribeyes with farmers cheese pierogis and grilled asparagus.
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10/5/2021 - Romol Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted 2,5 hours. A perfect bottle. Ready to drink. Very elegant and complex. Wonderful nose. Improved a lot in the decanter. I would recommend to decant it at least 2,5 hours. 95 pts. at the moment.
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9/29/2021 - ricard Likes this wine: 96 Points
Two reasons why I liked this much more than the 2005, tasted side-by-side: much older (mmmmmmm!) and a good dollop of Merlot in the mix. It's 57% Cabernet, 30% Merlot, 13% Cab Franc. The '05 is Cab dominated (89%) and to my palate, almost undrinkable. This is another story. It's fabulously soft and multi-layered, with explosive aromas of truffles, chocolate, mushrooms, game, iron, cigarbox. It's dusty, deep, very serious and grand. On top of this you get other brighter dimensions that help contain this sophisticated warming fragrance: a mintiness and freshness that belies its considerable age. Overall it's more savoury than sweet, but it's wonderful and very special. For me, not quite transcendental, which is the category many wine drinkers (especially Bordeaux enthusiasts) feel it deserves to belong to. It retails in the UK for about £750 - £50 cheaper than the 2005! Obviously the price is still absurd, but it might just about be warranted on the basis of relative age and scarcity.
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8/12/2021 - conviction buy wrote: 92 Points
Celebrate my girl admitted into a renowed university. Breathed for 2 hrs, top fill with bright ruby and a lighter rim in the glass. nose is full of lead pencil, cassis, typical Pauillac structure. Very elegant surprisingly on palate, sweet dark fruits and good acidity. Still have room to evolve, but not a wow wine by any measure, some tertiary aroma noted, maybe I am spoiled by wines from Burgundy.
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8/4/2021 - fournet Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted and was stellar over the next hour. Traditional in style.
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7/14/2021 - BROpus One Likes this wine: 99 Points
This is the second time i've had this bottle and both were absolute stunners. Few hour decant. Everything you love about bordeaux and everything in place--funky, deep fruit, soft and wonderfully long finish. This bottle will age forever but sure does drink well now.
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4/3/2021 - Vine Likes this wine: 92 Points
Subtle and delicate - not a powerhouse by any means but lovely none the less. Excellent.
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3/3/2021 - bookert wrote: 91 Points
Balanced and smooth. Medium concentration and length, not heavy at all.
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12/25/2020 - vulgar little monkey wrote: 97 Points
Maybe the best wine I had this year and a reminder that there are actual reasons that Bordeaux was a benchmark for so long. Deep currant fruit with a vegetal, animal, graphite edge that screams Pauillac. I had an emotional reaction to this perfect bottle from my father's cellar since I haven't seen my parents in 15 months and I miss them terribly. I first learned about wine at my father's side accompanying him on his Saturday trips to the local wine shop and tasting in the back room with other loyal customers. I remember when he bought these 1990 first growths, the first ones he ever bought, for $70-80 per bottle on futures. It's hard to imagine now that all wine was available as a splurge for regular people. This was a truly magnificent bottle, worthy of storing all these years and with decades of life left in it. I wouldn't even say that it is at peak since the tannins are still a little bit backwards. I can't wait to share a special bottle with my parents the next time I see them. As an aside, this was the hardest to dislodge cork I can remember with wine only on the end. I see so many people showing corks on wines younger than this soaked half way up calling it a "perfect cork". A perfect cork has no staining except at the end. That's what bottles look like that come from my cellar that I've had since release.
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12/14/2020 - Ricky99 Likes this wine: 96 Points
It’s a beauty.. sad only one left...
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12/1/2020 - daosailor Likes this wine: 95 Points
Classic Bordeaux...earlier on iodine in the nose, now flavors of cedar, cranberry and tobacco. This is a wonderful wine now though still think it has a few years left. But no bottles left...
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11/26/2020 - dafmd Likes this wine: 95 Points
Low Neck Fill; uninterrupted storage for 25 years; cork 1/3 stained, firm;
Decant 3 hours; slightly reductive at first; medium bodied, smooth old Bordeaux feel; dark berry, sous bois, cedar; gradually increased mouthfeel and cedar on nose, tasted hourly before decant; best at about 4 1/2 hours; not life-altering, but classic; definitely worth the 1990s price.
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10/28/2020 - WoodieBayArea wrote:
won't rate cuz we were distracted by World Series Game 6 (Dodgers won it all... 32 year drought is finally over!!)... but remember this underwhelming (at least in the first two hours when I was at least trying to taste the wine)
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10/24/2020 - jordanj wrote: 93 Points
A Zoom tasting of decent wines. An excuse to be social. (Zoom): A slightly less than stellar showing. Perfectly stored bottle. Not much to connote other than a decent 30 year old left bank Bordeaux. If anything, as expected, this was a tad more elegant than the others in the flight. Conversely, it lacked the complexity, weight and balance of the Mouton and Latour. It did add some complexity like some detailed high class cigar notes as it sat. 93+
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10/24/2020 - Fruitsrouges Likes this wine: 96 Points
Delicate but intense aromas and flavors of cassis potpourri, tobacco, cedar, graphite, mushrooms and leather that progress in layered and linear fashion across an exquisitely balanced palate of bright acidity and superfine tannins and finish with incredible length. Near peak pleasure for me with primary fruit shows good presence and in great balance with secondary and tertiary elements but why take the risk of loss of fruit with further aging since this 30yr Lafite is drinking perfectly now!
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10/10/2020 - nywine68 wrote: 98 Points
Gorgeous bottle. This has everything in perfect balance. The signature fruit of the 1990 vintage with beautiful freshness and underlying acidity. Quintessential Lafite graphite and lead pencil shavings. Some smoke on the nose. Black cassis fruit with nice secondary development. Ultrafine tannins complete the package. Bravo!
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8/21/2020 - dream Likes this wine: 97 Points
This keeps growing in stature and to me has just about taken the lead amongst the first growths now in 1990 (with Margaux). It's really showing the terroir of Lafite which so often takes decades to appear. The wine is voluptuous in the style of the vintage and so well balanced with a fine, chiseled texture. The finish is just so satisfying with classic notes of lead pencil and the finest smoky gravel. Simply stunning tonight.
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5/16/2020 - Bullethead Likes this wine: 98 Points
My 2nd birth year first growth. Decanted for 1 hour prior to consumption. Nose is extremely pronounced with hint of black currant, pencil, leather, truffle, forest floor, cedar, chocolate. Palate is a bit closed. Tannin still exists and as silky as margaux. Gratefully it opened beautifully in 3 hours. So elegant. Exceptional bottle. Strongly recommend to decant 3+ hours at this stage.
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3/8/2020 - Wine by Bok wrote: 100 Points
I have had many bottles of Lafite in my life, and particularly Lafite 90. Lafite was cryptic! Tonight I finally had a superb Lafite 90 that I can understand! The trick was to decant it for at least 3-4 hours! Nose was green, capsicum and smoky. Palate was extremely mellow, rounded and very powerful fruits.
more tasting note in finewines.com.sg
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2/4/2020 - LB88 wrote: 95 Points
Next best after the 1989. Was so balanced and drinking well but could wait for another few years and certainly has Many years ahead. Buy more!
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1/15/2020 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 92 Points
12h slow ox - opened in the morning, put neutral stopper back in and then decanted for about an hour at restaurant in the evening as the wine seemed to need still a bit of air. Somewhat musty nose that carries into the attack, on the mid palate a typical and nice left bank Bdx but with somewhat disappointing concentration, and also complexity given vintage and Chateau. Not tired nor closed, just a barely medium body Bordeaux. Tannins well integrated. Medium length.
Overall a nice left banker but then nowhere near the 90 Lynch Bages, and of course the QPR is a bit of a problem...
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1/1/2020 - yuti1225 Likes this wine: 96 Points
2020 New Year Celebration (Fleur de Sel Restaurant, Taichung): 如同西裝筆挺的紳士般，酸甜與單寧交織平衡，口感溫和滑進喉嚨，尾韻悠長，回甜。迷人且內斂的檀木與香草、成熟黑莓、李子乾、紅棗、微微的粉紅胡椒襯托，架構完整但不會有突兀感，很有魅力。 Decanted for 3.5hrs
by H.
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12/12/2019 - Elpaninaro Likes this wine:
I could not help smiling as this bottle was passed around- a dear old friend I have not seen in quite some time, youthful ruby color with a bit of bricking at the rim, cedar and boxwood on the nose, cassis, lead, lilacs, on the palate what a beautiful creation this has become, aged cassis with lead notes, hints of blackberry, a vibrant cherry note as well, broad and relaxing cedar notes throughout, perfectly poised, beautifully balanced, pristine, regal, the ultimate claret, I have long given the 1989 an edge for longevity plus a slight dash of excitement- but now seeing the 1990 at full maturity I have to put them on equal footing, if for varying reasons, a very special experience to see the first wine you ever really fell in love with all grown up at last.
*****, now to 2040
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11/20/2019 - sdr Likes this wine: 95 Points
From a bottle purchased on release from The Wine Connection, this one showed the best yet. While most of the group preferred the ‘90 Haut-Brion, I thought this was Wine of the Night, besting Latour and Margaux as well on this exceptional evening. Not a trace of the rusticity it sometimes displays, instead silky, sweet, luxurious and supremely elegant. Essence of Lafite. Red and black fruity, medium full, outstanding balance. It’s finally all composed and it’s beautiful.
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11/14/2019 - acyso wrote: 98 Points
HDH annual Bordeaux tasting: Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Chicago, IL): This is truly glorious Bordeaux. The matured ripeness here manifests as this intense dried fruit perfume, and coupled with that slight hint of brett, the pencil shavings and leather, make for a nose that stops you dead in your tracks. Then you get to the palate, and it delivers all the glory that the nose promises. Simultaneously showing resolved secondary characteristics and youthful fruit, this is an example of what Bordeaux truly is about. One for the ages, and easily one of the best bottles of Bordeaux I've tasted this year (in a year that has been full of legends).
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11/12/2019 - hprphf wrote: 97 Points
Lafite Dinner 2019 (Blue Hill): Graceful wine, so composed with a variety of flowers, pencil box, soft spice and sweet fruit. Incredibly youthful with a very complete palate. 97
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9/22/2019 - Vandenbergmb Likes this wine: 92 Points
Still much life left in this bottle. Some tannin still remains. Decanted for an hour before enjoying.
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9/13/2019 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 94 Points
Double blind. Next to 90 Haut Brion that we knew. Definitely Cabernet based. This has dark fruit, scorched earth, some herbal and stones, the herbal and wood. Dark - blackberry and cassis . Guessed old world and BDX which was easy next to HB - lots of similarities. This has more fruit and a sweet streak. On the palate it’s more closed them The Haut Brion, with lots of structure. Based on the darker fruit I went Pauillac
or St Estephe and ended with Paulliac With the sweet streak and the flavor profile I went 89 lynch Bages.
Note after the reveal and a pour from the bottom of the bottle, surprisingly no sediment but much more typical of the chateau:
Nose: Dark. Scorch. Pencil lead shavings, young. Dark sweet fruit. Spices minerality. Palate is young and dark. Scorched. Chewy. Some savory. Cedar/wood. Dusty tannins both smooth - purple. Excellent potential. Nose - 5.5/6, Palate - 5+/6, Finish - 5+/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 17+/20 (with 18-19/20)
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7/2/2019 - steinersing wrote: 94 Points
concentrated, velvety. Early days still for this wine.
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6/16/2019 - VDLT Wine Likes this wine:
Some 1990 1st growths etc (Chez Herb Wollowick): At no point during the evening did this evoke a comment of “the best” or “my favorite”, but at the end a few folks agreed with me that this bottle had the most soul of the 3 first Growths we drank from this vintage.
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4/5/2019 - Oaknose wrote:
Nydelig vin! Fikk smake på Morgenbladets styremiddag hos Bjørn Smith Simonsen i 2019.
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3/30/2019 - hprphf wrote: 93 Points
Zachy's Lafite Auction (Le Bernardin Prive): Red fruit, chocolate, game, bitter stem, dark violet, spicy and sharp. Great acidity, herbal tannins, smooth and fresh palate albeit with some rough bumps. Might not age well. 93
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3/16/2019 - dharrison93 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Wine-gasm. From magnum with friends at our local French restaurant.
Scintillating nose of dark fruit berries and spice.
The magnum format save plenty of the ebullient berries and vibrancy which may be fading in 750ml format at age 28+
No hurry to drink up with 10-20 years spectacular drinking ahead.
If a date, this was a 35 year old senior Goldman Sachs investment banker: Worldly, Harvard MBA intelligence and good taste with sex appeal to match.
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2/9/2019 - liber Likes this wine: 97 Points
5th of 12, decanted 90 minutes, perfect level, half travelled cork, just off my top bottle (6/14), needed a lot of coaxing, but then lovely, energetic fruit wrapped round an iron core with secondaries developing nicely, even more persistent than long with a flavour profile effortless unfurling with even power right through to exit, aristocratic or what, scope to exhibit more complexity and develop fantail, years of interesting development ahead. VF+ (19).
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2/3/2019 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 97 Points
2nd Annual Sommelier Appreciation Dinner (Undisclosed Location): Starts out with a strongly smoky aroma, in fact smoky to the point of austerity like we were just sat in the smoking section (remember those?). But then some sweet fruit emerges and charges a path through the smoke like a comet. The texture is incomparably finessed and fine-knit in the fashion that distinguishes Lafite from all the other firsts and it's stacked with an array of "how did all this come from grapes?" flavors, most enticingly the funk of black truffle. It was interesting to try this just a few weeks after the '89 because many of those deeper, soil-driven flavors that knocked my socks off in the '89 are here too, just not as boldly as there's a sense in which this still has some more blossoming to do.
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2/3/2019 - dcwino wrote: 97 Points
Sommelier Appreciation Dinner 2019 (The Brown Residence): Absolutely gorgeous nose displaying decadent yet delicate and pure red fruit, strawberry, cherry jam, lead pencil, cedar, leather, caramel, a hint of black truffle and mineral. Perfectly integrated palate, beautifully layered rich and sweet yet pure red fruit, silky and polished, perfect amount of acidity and mineral, and a long rich yet pure red fruit driven finish. It is fascinating to compare to the perfect 86 mouton. Gorgeous slightly feminine yet expressive showing, textbook Lafite expression that we all love.
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1/27/2019 - VlgJeff Likes this wine: 95 Points
A second bottle of this delightful wine was opened and decanted for about 3 hours until we began to consume it. The aromas and palate were essentially identical to the first bottle described below. However, only about 1/3 of this bottle was enjoyed tonight. The remaining portion of the bottle was left in the decanter and consumed the following night, and was even better than the first night.
There were deeper aromas of red fruits (cherry), which carried on to the palate, along with some hints of chocolate. The rest of the TN follows the previous night, with perhaps a bigger midpalate.
This is why including notes on aeration can be so helpful.
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1/27/2019 - VlgJeff Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for 2.5 hours, with sediment, and continued to evolve in the glass. Welcoming aromas of red fruit and earth. On the palate this medium plus bodied wine presented as an aged Bordeaux, with no real surprises. Red and dark red fruits, earth, leather, cigar ash, and balanced acidity, along with integrated tannins, created a satisfying mouthful. Along with the rack of lamb, it created a tried and true pairing. There is something to be said about wines that can speak with authority 30 years after vintage. Will hold, and delight, for at least another 10 years.
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1/10/2019 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 96 Points
Château Lafite Rothschild vertical tasting (Wine Watch, Fort Lauderdale, Florida): One of the best bottles of 1990 Lafite that I can recall. Dark ruby color. A nose of black currant, blackberry, tobacco, eucalyptus, and dark chocolate. Even better on the palate. Very complex and fantastic concentration. Seemed to improve throughout the evening. This is getting close to its peak, but will remain there for a very long time.
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12/26/2018 - dkentaustin Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened 2 hours before pouring. Quintessential old school Bordeaux nose with light wet saddle. Lavender, hint of rosemary, sweet mountain laurel. Flint dry, minerality lower layer. Great structure. Drinking young and bright with notes of raspberries and rhubarb.
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11/24/2018 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
At first, disjointed, stemmy, roasted and harsh. Fortunately a magical transformation occurred in the Zalto. Fabulous perfume of sweet dark berry and a hint of violet. Powerful in Lafite terms, excellent concentration and depth, long finish. But after a couple of hours it started to dry out. K thought it was too young, maybe she’s right. A puzzler but if you catch it in the zone, it’s terrific.
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11/8/2018 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 94 Points
A Special 40th Anniversary Celebration (Restaurant Daniel, New York City): Not the most complex Bordeaux of the flight, but one that was hard to resist. Some barnyard/VA on the nose, which slowly dissipated, revealing aromas of black fruit and leather. The taste maintains a bit of that animal quality, alongside straightforward layers of dark fruits and an acidic backbone. The tannins have not softened, shortening the finish to some extent.
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9/28/2018 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
Smooth as silk with lots of black fruit and lead pencil notes along with a lovely hint of violet spice on the finish. Just delicious if not as typically refined as the best vintages.
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9/16/2018 - jsmorris707 wrote: 97 Points
Brought by Andy to dinner last night & was equal (but different) to the 98 Chave; outstanding & ready to drink
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8/15/2018 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 97 Points
Opened up after 2.5 hours. Black fruit, stems, tobacco, tea leaf, and truffle. This is so complete with a perfect balance between power and elegance. The fruit was so precise. Absolutely stunning tonight. The finish is long and endless. This is the wine to buy if you want to try what a great mature lafite is like. 97 pt
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7/27/2018 - dream wrote: 94 Points
No, it’s not one of the great Lafite’s because it just lacks the precision and refinement of the best vintages. However, its drinking gloriously tonight with great dark berry liquere fruit and lots of vineyard typicity with strong notes of lead pencil and pure dark earth. Also shows the round plumpness and seductive qualities of the ‘90 vintage very well. There is still a chiseled quality on the finish which bodes well for a long life and there is oodles of complexity and good mineral crunch on the finish. It kept improving in the glass and needs a 2+ hour decant to show its best. In the end, I sure wasn’t complaining much drinking this with a charred steak. 94+
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6/14/2018 - LeMild wrote: 95 Points
Gorgeous. Hints of menthol. Soft. A delight.
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5/27/2018 - american hotel wrote: 96 Points
- Light body with a long finish - Yes
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4/16/2018 - grapenomad wrote: 99 Points
Birth year Chateau Lafite. Shy at first with a couple of dried fruit notes coming out, but opens up gracefully on the palate after a few hours. Lean, impressive structure with a freshness and balance that only a veracious artist can achieve when given the right produce and tools. And with that, one can conclude that 1990 was a year of true legends that will indeed live forever.
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4/11/2018 - Ramberg wrote: 96 Points
Small and simple dinner gathering with some special friends, no formal notes.
The bottle (actually all Bdx. we drunk tonight) had been open for approx. 4 hours.
Typical claret maturing nose, leather, some fine stable notes, cassis, riper berries, red currant, lead pencil, smoke and earth.
Roasted charcoal, black fruits, blackberries and black currants, some truffles, gravel, soli and leather.
Very long and with riche fruit, with a very good balance and finish.
Great Lafite in the making here.
(96 – 99+)
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3/14/2018 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 97 Points
A nice monster. Typical Pauillac, a lot of black currant,graphite,tobacco leaves, still more on the fruit side but with slowly beginning tertiary aromas. Lovely to drink after six hours of decantation. I guessed Latour 1996. For the next 20 years. 97-98
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3/5/2018 - wineguy75 wrote: 91 Points
Second bottle tried over past several months and same experience. Classic left bank, but muted and not very expressive. Was hoping for much more.
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3/1/2018 - Comte Flaneur wrote: 96 Points
It has been at least 20 years since I have tried this, and I was expecting an austere introverted style of wine. However it was fully resolved like the 1985. Classic cool fruited Lafite with graphite and bonfire and lowish acidity. But it retains impeccable poise and balance (unlike for example Leoville Lascases in this vintage).
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1/26/2018 - Fftjr Likes this wine: 95 Points
What can I say. Simple excellent. Well balanced, still a lot of fruit and mellowing tannins. Hard to beat.
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1/26/2018 - OenoEd Likes this wine: 94 Points
Profound nose of iodine, clay, briary cherries. A rather lean structure, but persistent and consistent flavors, leading to a superb crushed granite terroir focused finish. Lovely with venison loin, roasted barley risotto, and crushed blackberries.
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1/24/2018 - N.Bonaparte wrote: 95 Points
So young! Needs at least 3 hours in decanter. Classic graphite lafite. Outstanding. Good body good finish. Overall in or near prime. Personal preference would be to wait another 5-8 years. Really is quite youthful. Will hold for another 30 years easy, easy....
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12/25/2017 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 97 Points
Magnum, hängt sowohl am ersten als auch am zweiten Tag dem Margaux hinterher. Noch verschlossener, aber mit dem etwas ruppigeren Tanningeflecht. Auch er öffnet sich am Folgetag und wird geschmeidiger, nicht unbedingt so zahm wie eine Hauskatze, aber wie ein Löwe in Gefangenschaft. Cassisfrucht dominiert, ohne wirkliche Tertiäraromen. Braucht noch ein, zwei Dekaden aus dem Format. 97
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12/24/2017 - vinodonpedro wrote: 95 Points
A big wow for this one. Not high in alcohol content, but a great vine from Lafite nonetheless. This was very smooth, no sharp edges at all. A fantastic night. This is ready for prime time, just give it a good decant.
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12/16/2017 - sdr Likes this wine: 90 Points
Lafite Vertical - More Hope than Substance? (Valentino's Cucina, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): A rather subdued showing for the ‘90 Lafite, this bottle seemed much older than it age despite perfect storage since release. Quite a bit of maroon color even at the center. Subdued nose, fullish body. Started out well but as it evolved it displayed overripe notes of browning fruit and what freshness it had faded. Nothing first growth here. For a “young” Lafite this bottle was puzzling and must be just an off bottle.
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12/2/2017 - ricknat1 Likes this wine: 94 Points
This entire flight probably would produce higher ratings if they were opened earlier. that said, the lafite was elegant, typical and a pleasure. i would give this at least 4 hours air prior to drinking
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11/24/2017 - BilboBaggins wrote: 93 Points
Two bottles tasted with very similar impressions.
Very elegant and etheral nose with cherries, tobacco and rose. Has a fairly light expression, where you can sense the complexity slowly appearing. However, the bottles started fading after a while. On the palate, the wine is refreshing and very elegant, but not particularly interesting.
This was my first time trying Lafite, and I must admit, I am not that impressed. It is clearly a very good and well-crafted wine, but I would have expected the wine to make a clear expression. A similar experience was noted around the table, with many people considering the 1955 Beychevelle as good or better than the Lafite.
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10/16/2017 - Justinneal654 wrote: 98 Points
Mineral and aged nose. Cherry notes and mineral undercurrents with a graphite edge. Musky and mushroom. Very leathery and savory. Inspires salivation.
The wine is alive and vivacious. It has layers including some still potent tannins.
Such a fun experience! First time I have had a first growth, and it is fabulous!
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10/16/2017 - Teaky Likes this wine: 97 Points
Color of red/orange which faded to red over time. Double decanted due to cork disintegrating and needing to be filtered out, let sit for ~3.5 hours, drank over an hour. Very phenolic nose, slight must, very pleasant, also had scents of rose and cherry. Flavors similar to nose, very phenolic up front, which resolved into cassis and cherry, then into leather after about a minute. Excellently balanced bottle of wine, low acid, medium-full body, mild-moderate tannins.
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10/6/2017 - KoalaHK wrote:
At the Lafite Vertical Dinner, Amuse Bouche Hong Kong - This was paired with the 1989 and the 2000. The 2000 kicked them both into touch with both the 1989 and 1990 disappointingly flat and perhaps a little more evolved than you'd expect from a First Growth.
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10/6/2017 - fcxj wrote: 88 Points
NM Lafite. Softened compared to 2000 with some nuttiness aromatically, but felt light and astringent. Seen better showings.
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9/14/2017 - fcxj wrote: 90 Points
It's hit higher highs for me in the past, didn't really stand out this evening. From Mag.
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9/13/2017 - steinersing wrote: 93 Points
beautiful nose, elegant. A bit of secondary aromas.
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9/1/2017 - jonanator wrote:
A little disappointed. Felt a little muted. Plenty of elegance, but not a lot of fruit or anything else to really make me go "wow". Maybe just an off bottle.
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8/23/2017 - llink wrote: 95 Points
Decanted for 3 hours. Very on point nose of cedar, cassis, tobacco leaf and spice. The palate was really singing despite showing youthful and full of vigor. Very satiny and caressing while simultaneously delivering fine grain tannins. Excellent showing.
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8/7/2017 - rmalloy Likes this wine: 95 Points
Mature and profound. Pungent aromas of cedar and black cardamom. Rosewater, ink, cassis, plum, and mocha. Raspberry acidity. Still dense and intense, with strong tannins.
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7/16/2017 - ricknat1 Likes this wine: 95 Points
elegance in a bottle, still young but quite drinkable, tannins are integrated and secondary and tertiary waves of flavor are there giving a wonderful lift to this wine
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7/14/2017 - rmalloy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Noble, but not explosive. Nose of cedar, pencil shavings, tobacco, and cassis. Good weight on the palate. Drinks well now.
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7/3/2017 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 94 Points
A deep, dark ruby color with minimal lightening of the edges. The nose was inviting, with cassis, leather, sous bois, basil, violets, and espresso. It wasn't quite as strong on the palate, but there was still nice tension. The balance was quite excellent, with the tannins marrying quite well. Interestingly, I saved a bit of this for the next day, and it was considerably better on the second day (just as the 89 La Mouline was).
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7/1/2017 - Lazlo Toth wrote: 95 Points
This has one of the most delightful bouquets I have ever experienced. Truly exceptional. Powerful cassis, mushroom and pencil lead. Garnet colored with pronounced bricking. This is a powerful old world wine that is layered and nuanced. Cassis, red currant, wet leaves, stone, graphite and a hint of coffee grinds. This wine was double decanted and swirled off and on for 2 hours. The last sip was the best as it was still evolving. Definitely at its peak, but with many years still to go.
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5/24/2017 - eschaefer Likes this wine: 91 Points
Flash note. A flash note is one that I distinctly remember the quality/overall rating of a wine but can’t give specifics because the tasting note was not written at time of tasting.
This 1990 was waning a bit. Waited for it to gain flavor/strength but it never fully arrived. Drink ‘em if you got ‘em.
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5/19/2017 - oxwombat Likes this wine: 96 Points
Opened at the Harwood Arms in London. Decanted and enjoyed over dinner.
Absolutely stunning Lafite in a great phase. Beautiful nose of red and black fruits, balanced by classic notes of cassis and graphite. Tannins were beautifully integrated but the wine still had a lot of structure. Went down extremely smoothly and had a long, lingering finish.
Will keep for a while, but also don't hesitate to drink up - this is in a really good spot.
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5/6/2017 - D. Mitchell Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted blind, on the nose was a little tight in the beginning but opened up in the glass to reveal earthy mushroom notes, with a bit of cassis, graphite, and gun powder. I could sit and smell this wine all night and be happy... In the mouth this is a wine with massive structure and very long finish. There was a dominant herbaceous (slightly green) character on the attack, that leads to red fruits, floral, truffle, there was so much to like about this wine, and with the huge structure I feel this wine has many years to go, and may justify a higher score in the future.
My 2/4 Group 2/4
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4/7/2017 - Fftjr wrote:
Traded to Scott Haft
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2/21/2017 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 95 Points
First growth dinner (Cafe Maxx, Pompano Beach, Florida): Elegant weight. Light ruby color. A nose that shows real class. Very floral, eucalyptus, mushroom, red fruits. Light on its feet. Just kept improving with time. Clean on the nose and palate.
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2/3/2017 - tinybubbles wrote: 92 Points
Appealing smoke and spice notes but a backpalate and finish that shows too much heat.
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12/25/2016 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
Tobacco and leather aromas, and some fruit, secondary and tertiary. Fresh and retains good fruit. Balanced, pure and long.
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12/25/2016 - Gian wrote: 95 Points
Perfect cork , decanted 4 hours , the wine doesn't show any sign of age , brilliant garnet color , nose of blackberry, cherries, earth, on the palate aristocratic elegance but anyway intense taste, balanced, smooth tannins, very long finish
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12/18/2016 - PJT 1986 Likes this wine: 95 Points
right, this my issue, we all find vintages that for some reason don't float our boat - and Lafite 1990 and me, just don't see eye to eye. My opinion is not based on original release stock. I have only tasted ex-cellars, reconditioned stock. And, I have to be honest. On almost every occasion I have been unimpressed. I know it was a generous vintage, and the yield was plump, but the wine is always tough, shallow, and confused. Its got no core, yet shows bags of Lafite/Milon smoke and minerality - wheres the fruit? seems stretched to me!
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12/12/2016 - BradE wrote:
Lafite Vertical: Like the 89 drunk tonight, the 90 failed to live up to its pedigree. I've generally liked the 90, but have never liked it as much as others (critics, drinkers). A good wine, and this bottle was in great shape. Just not memorable. Two bottles opened tonight, with consistent results.
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12/10/2016 - Francois Le Mouel Likes this wine: 96 Points
Tasted blind. I called a Chateau Margaux 1990. Beautiful and memorable wine. This was my WOTN. Very classy, almost feminine, with an intense nose, smooth tannins and very long finish. Quite a treat.
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12/2/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 93 Points
Although there is much to like, this wine usually leaves me wanting more. Both nose and palate initially present the potential of a much better wine, but neither able to follow up.
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10/2/2016 - Ellen5181 wrote:
We left a glass each for next day in a decanter.
The morning review is:
On the nose, much more honeyed and earthy smell. Still lots of fruit. Much more development than last night, but still quite intoxicating.
Palate - still delicious but a more developed wine. I feel the tannins are a bit more noticeable than last night.
All in all, a lovely wine.
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10/1/2016 - Ellen5181 Likes this wine: 95 Points
What a treat!
Appearance - the cap was slightly indented and nicked. Cork pulled out and separated last 10%. It was moist up to rim. Rim was dry. Decanting. Small amount of sediment left in bottle but fairly impressive given the age of the wine.
It's slightly hazy, color is medium garnet.
Nose - beautiful. Sense it will only open with air. Clean, medium intensity, developing. Smelling red and black fruits, some floral, graphite, cigar box, lead pencil. Baking spice aromas. Cedar. Getting some chocolate.
Palate - dry, medium acidity, medium tannins - well integrate, alcohol is medium, body is medium, flavor intensity is medium, flavor profile include ripe red and black fruit. Currants, cherries, fruit is still quite strong, it's a 3 minute wine and still going. It's just beautiful. It explodes in beautiful flavor on mid palate. Got more maturity on nose than on palate. Still so much fruit and feels very young. Supports more aging potential. I would argue medium plus finish.
This is wonderful. The question now is how long we can let it sit without taking little tastes to see how it keeps developing. Too bad it's our. only bottle.
Wow.
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8/28/2016 - Thoughtful Likes this wine: 94 Points
At a dinner party. Storage not perfect and cork crumbled but in perfect condition. Lovely bouquet. Firm, well balanced but lacking real first growth quality. Too powerful to be elegant but not powerful enough in depth and flavour. Will last for another 20 years at least if properly stored. As with all trophy wines way over priced.
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8/6/2016 - fcxj wrote: 96 Points
For me, this vintage always outperforms the reviews... aromatically starting to develop tertiary and palate round, resolved. Highly pleasurable.
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7/9/2016 - peternelson wrote: 92 Points
This was a bit closed and I have suspicions that it may have slightly suffered from a weak cork--it was very wet up to 3/4 the length of the cork, but dry around the rim. Anyway, closed or not, it showed all the classic signs of Lafite, but much less exuberant than the Margaux, Cos, and Pichon. Notes of Clove, exotic spices, nettles, rocky gravelly minerals, forest floor and berries. Elegant but structured, perfect weight in the mouth. At 25 years, I figure this is 1/2 into its life if not more. I am dying to open another bottle to see if this is shut down or bottle variation. Still quite wonderful and was the WOTN for some. 92-93, with potential for 94-95. High-End Bordeaux Tasting at Monopole.
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4/20/2016 - RayOB Likes this wine: 96 Points
Drank at 67 Pall Mall
We decided to drink a 1990 Haut Brion and a 1990 Lafite side by side. This was a wonderfully opportunity to see which one we preferred. Both are amazing with incredible complexity and depth. The Lafite is slightly more polished and refined like a city gent. The Haut Brion is more mature with some slight rough edges like a country squire. Both changed through the course of the evening offering us many different notes and tastes. We all preferred the Haut Brion to the Lafite but only by one point because it was more interesting. Both are incredible wines.
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2/9/2016 - ManhattanBeach Likes this wine: 94 Points
Royal Opera House and Decanter Magazine Wine Gala Dinner (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London): Subtler than the Ridge Monte Bello 1991; a nice old vs. new world contrast. Profound and long. With comte cheese, campaillou bread, red grapes and celery.
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1/28/2016 - nywine68 Likes this wine: 98 Points
1989 vs. 1990 Bordeaux (Vaucluse): 89 vs 90 tasting. Wow! What a nose! Awesome notes of graphite and pencil shavings. A panoply of flavors in the mouth. A massive fruit bowl. Loved this wine and thought it was much better than the 89.
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12/29/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 93 Points
A relatively mature bottle with less of the fresh earthiness and high note savories that I expected, however with notable dark fruit, dry leaves and tobacco. 93-94
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12/16/2015 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 95 Points
Achim's Magnum Tasting 2015 (Behrens am Kai in Düsseldorf 1 star restaurant): Gun powder, a lot of cassis, licorice and pencil tip, very young, well integrated barrique but showing a rough acidity, firm tannins present, long finish crying for more aging, typical lafite in my opinion
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11/14/2015 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 94 Points
Surprisingly young nose of bright red cherry and intense blackberry and currant. Pleasant notes of mint intermittent throughout as well. Palate provides great balance and is in an agreeable spot for drinking right now but is still a little hot with big tannins suggesting this is still a little young. More developed notes of mature red and black cherry and some leathery cranberry emerge after spending more time with it.
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8/29/2015 - petitblanc wrote: 94 Points
Madison Offline 2015; 8/27/2015-8/29/2015: Consumed blind as a ringer alongside a lineup of Unicos. Youthful garnet-cherry color virtually identical to the Unicos. Similar elegant mouthfeel, superb balance, fine fruits and silky tannins. Yet the nuances of tobacco and exotic spices, and the lack of caramelized oxidative notes, made it easy for everyone to spot this as the ringer. Great wine, its similarities and contrasts helped to highlight, at least for me, some of the qualities of the Unicos.
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8/29/2015 - GalvezGuy Likes this wine: 96 Points
Throwndown in Madtown; 8/27/2015-8/29/2015 (Madison, WI): Double blind. Nose of pipe tobacco, pencil shavings, red currant, black currant, red currant, with hints of mocha. On the palate, seamless with cranberry, pie cherry, red currant, hints of tobacco and lots of spicy oak elements. Nice balanced finish with great grip. Very young yet, could improve with more age.
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8/22/2015 - liber Likes this wine: 97 Points
4th of 12, perfect cork and fill, essentially as noted in June 2014, with same wonderful, aristocratic flavour profile, just slightly less energy to the fruit, so shaded the marking to same as for sensationally good Cos drunk the previous weekend....even so the Lafite is the better wine on potential (as it should be!). Very fine plus (19/20).
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6/28/2015 - Lord Rayas wrote: 94 Points
MNSC - Kevin (The Pawn): Decanted for an hour. Great structure but nose faded slightly towards the end.
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6/14/2015 - Dan Holmes Likes this wine: 95 Points
Enjoyed well after closing time on a certain curved porch in Lincoln. Elegant and balanced. The fruit was fresh on the nose and the palate. Real vitality and energy. Very smooth tannins. A real treat.
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6/6/2015 - fcxj wrote: 94 Points
Fresh
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3/8/2015 - mhudes Likes this wine: 99 Points
One of the most superb wines I've ever had. Decanted for about 1 hour. The nose was exquisite with roses, cherry and possibly mushroom. Very smooth and opulent on the palate with very fine tannins. Initially some currant but then comes the expected cedar and lead pencil. WOW! This is among the 5 greatest red wines I have ever tasted.
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3/3/2015 - RussK wrote: 93 Points
Russk. Nathan's Bx tasting at Cafe Italia. The WOTN old Bx nose, with more refinement and less dirt than the Le Mission of the same year.
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3/2/2015 - Purple Tooth wrote: 97 Points
If you want to introduce someone to an example of truffle profile in the form of a wine, this wine should be your first choice. I don't think that I have ever seen a better example of suave truffle in the nose or the flavor profile of a wine. The warmth and softness of the wine lets the truffle take over and linger, as it gives way to antique cedar and fruit. Fully mature, fully awesome!
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2/27/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 93 Points
This is a fine wine. But for a First Growth selling for the money it does, it falls short. Everything is there, the nose, palate and finish, but where is the excitement and energy needed for this much money? There are selling wines, and drinking wines. This is more of the first, and less of the last.
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2/21/2015 - DSR wrote: 93 Points
Decanted for 3+ hours. Fragrant nose of blackcurrant, cedar, lead. Very light and elegant on the palate, tannins soft and in the background, very long finish. Lovely.
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1/4/2015 - emzee.mc wrote: 95 Points
The wine pours an inkish grey color with moderate bricking at the edges. It has very long legs with minimal sediment. On the nose, the wine is a classic left banker. It exhibits much poise, with a concentrated scent of preserved plums, leather, lead pencil shavings, moderate black fruit and kirsch. Surprisingly, it is somewhat light in structure and the mineral backbone dominates. There are flavors of shiitake mushrooms, blackberries, cinnamon, truffles and raspberry jam. The wine is very balanced - light yet powerful. The finish is complex and very long, lasting almost 45 seconds to a minute. Super stuff.
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12/28/2014 - Davyd Chong Likes this wine: 95 Points
Almost like a masculine pinot noir. Supremely elegant and balanced. Extremely silky tannins - mouthfeel was umami, as if the wine was "dancing" on the palate. Very delicate and refined wine, showing dark and red fruits like cranberries, blackcurrant, cherries. French oak is evident but seamlessly integrated. Hints of chocolate, vanilla, and earth. Acidity is still fresh and high - mouth watering indeed. Very clean on the palate. Not really my idea of a "perfect wine" (noting that this is Lafite from an excellent vintage) but nonetheless a real treat.
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10/11/2014 - Simple palate wrote: 92 Points
Blind tasted after 3 hours in a decanter at Richard's afternoon reception.
The nose immediately says this is far from a everyday Bordeaux - lovely complex aroma. On the palate, rich concentrated flavor, long finish - but not wow.
A snapshot glass at 3 pm perhaps does not do it justice, and still so young.
Lovely aroma.
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9/20/2014 - fcxj wrote: 94 Points
Great
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9/14/2014 - ATBridge wrote:
A Great French Dinner (Indianapolis, IN): Really tight when opened. 10+ hours later, including 6+ in the glass, offering up beautiful cassis, hints of coffee, earth. Still a baby, but textbook Pauillac.
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7/11/2014 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
This is a lovely Lafite that to me just lacks the usual refinement and precision found in the top vintages. Very 1990 with black fruits and a thick, opulent texture. Just beginning to show some secondary flavor development with delicious notes of lead pencil and dark spices. Finishes concentrated and complex but perhaps a bit overshadowed tonight by the other first growths. Still, a lovely Pauillac that is still on the upswing.
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6/14/2014 - liber Likes this wine: 98 Points
3rd of 12, decanted 2 hours, all fine notes - deepish bright garnet, little development, magical nose, still quite primary with graphite and iron overlaying black fruit, med full but so persistent and complex, and with the expansion (fantail?) which comes with a very top vintage, fine grip and energy to the fruit, but balanced and almost laid back, marvellous - it pipped the 85 which also showed well. Very fine indeed (19.5/20).
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3/6/2014 - LWI wrote: 93 Points
1990 Bordeaux Horizontal: Very good nose, a lot to like, exotic, some old wood, hint of forest floor and bonfire; fresh taste, slightly sweet, some development, a bit short and lacking a bit in concentration.
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9/20/2013 - Nutty08 Likes this wine:
HDH '90 vs '00 BDX Comparative Tasting (Chicago, IL - Spiaggia): Sheer class. That's all i can discern from my scribbled notes. Flint, subtle mint and cassis with a little darker fruit in the background. Seamless integration. Incredibly fine tannins, seductive mouthfeel. Fantastic wine early in its drinking plateau. A/A+
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9/7/2013 - Margauxguy wrote: 97 Points
Absolutely stunning wine. Drank over 4 hours with decant. Started out big and young, classic Lafite, cedar pencil, lead dark stone fruits. Smooth, balanced, long big. Opulent, rich, violet, floral, palate coating and long with great structure. Then it softened, opened up developed some cranberry, with the graphite and cedar, soft black cherry. The cranberry was a surprise. Alternated between too young and perfect. Great wine, drink now with decant or hold for 25 years.
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8/25/2013 - MatthewF wrote:
Birthday/Going Away Dinner (Chicago, IL): Opened, decanted and followed over roughly 4 hours. Started off very shy and perhaps a little thin, but fleshed out quite nicely with time in the decanter. Red currant and plum with cigar box, graphite and tobacco leaf aromatics. The same red fruit came through on the palate with a nice earthy quality as well. Medium body with a long balanced finish. Not a super powerful Bordeaux, but quite delicious.
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7/21/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
In a blind tasting, the wine shows well. The texture is silky. The fruit is of quality, with cassis, cedar, earth, cigar box and tobacco in abundance. The finish comes up a bit short. This is just starting to drink well. However, its best days are in the future. I'd give it another 5-10 more years before popping a bottle. On the positive side, the wine has clearly improved over the years. When mature, this could become a much better wine still.
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5/11/2013 - DoubleD1969 Likes this wine: 96 Points
My boss brought this bottle from Europe and drank along with a '93 Penfolds Grange, '97 Ridge Monte Bello, and a '05 Cayuse Bionic Frog. The lineup wasn't meant to compare each other as so much as present some iconic wines from the New World that my boss wouldn't necessarily find in his area too often.
The '90 Lafite was the second wine tasted, after the Ridge. Despite the 3,000 mile+ journey, the Lafite was showing extremely well. The bottle was decanted at the restaurant and allowed to breathe about 45 minutes. The nose was intoxicatingly sweet and floral - pink roses to be exact -- with hints of raspberry. The palate was suprisingly light and delicate yet focused with a laser beam of red currant and cedar. I didn't even notice the finish. I just kept smelling it and taking sips. I could have drunk the entire bottle. At the end of the evening, the aromas became earthier and leathery. What a fantastic experience. My only other experience with Lafitte were other friends' 2002. It's a shame that some people mix 7-up with this wine.
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4/30/2013 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com Likes this wine: 92 Points
Bordeaux 1st Growth Brown Bag Wine Dinner at Two Chefs; 4/30/2013-5/1/2013 (TWO CHEFS, MIAMI, FL): Al's wine. Garnet color. Slow legs. Cassis, dark berry, tobacco, lead pencil flavors. Polished, with an extended finish.
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2/28/2013 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 94 Points
Got black pepper and soy, even smpoked duck...not as powerful as I would have assumed, and did not impress me the way the Lynch Bages and Pavie did, although we are really talking about degrees of greatness here.
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12/6/2012 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
A little reticent when first opened, but soon became a flowering beauty. Open knit for Lafite, beautiful fragrance. More red cherry than black. Excellent texture, easy to drink, almost fully ready although deep in color. Should drink well for many years to come.
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10/22/2012 - dream wrote: 93 Points
Excellent color with an expressive nose of graphite, dark berries and roasted nuts. Needed a good 2-hour decant and then developed a lovely, silky texture. Fairly full-bodied with delicious flavors of black fruits, charred cedar and graphite minerals. Finishes with a lovely note of lead pencil shavings. Perhaps a slightly chunky rather than elegant version of Lafite but this is still aging nicely and will be a lovely drink in 5+ years. 93+
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10/13/2012 - lepetitchateau wrote: 95 Points
unctuous, yummy - but a tiny bit dumb - and such a classicly profound Bordeaux from the nose to the luxiourous texture of the wine on the mouth.
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8/10/2012 - King JR wrote: 96 Points
This was spectacular! Classic Lafite gravelly taste! Love this. Still completely robust - no bricking at all. This was the WOTN and an honor to drink!
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7/30/2012 - Lord Rayas wrote: 94 Points
Parents' 54th Anniversary (Pearl Liang): the aromas really wanted to explode but somehow seemed a bit wrapped up, perhaps not enough decant time. it's like Adele singing with a blocked nose. poor glassware didn't help.
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6/8/2012 - Blair Curtis wrote: 96 Points
This was my WOTN on this evening. Pure cassis on the nose. Then comes the lead pencil and cedar cigar box. Gorgeous fruit here. The mouthfeel is close to perfect. Wow. Long, harmonious, and displaying tremendous balance. A very expensive (now), but very worthy wine!
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5/28/2012 - godx wrote: 95 Points
La Commanderie de Bordeaux à Vancouver - 1988, 1989, 1990 Red Bordeaux (CinCin Restaurant): Wow…game over with this nose. I could declare this my WOTN just from the smell. An intoxicating and purely classic Bordeaux nose of cedar, some poopy funk with unadulterated cassis, blackcurrant and plum fruit and maybe a hint of floral. Just an incredibly complex, pure and classic nose. In the mouth, once again, classic cedar notes wrapped in a nimble yet muscular frame of plum, blackcurrant and dark cherries. Silky, balanced and very long. It’s subtle yet powerful, elegant yet muscular. This has the best nose, palate and texture of all the wines tonight. Going into this I almost wanted to not like this wine, but alas, it’s incredibly good. It’s drinking very well now but has at least a decade left of development to go. Outstanding. 95+
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4/10/2012 - Lord Rayas wrote: 95 Points
Dinner with Roland/Louisa, KH/Ina, Ernie/Yvonne (The Principal): after 2 hours in decanter, explosive aroma of tar, smoke and leather. stylish.
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2/7/2012 - Pingzing wrote: 95 Points
Total value for money. After 1 hour on caraf. dissapointet. But then after 3 hours - wouw. All the right things for a great Bordeaux, great nose, great taste....
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12/3/2011 - ricknat1 wrote: flawed
corked
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10/17/2011 - EX wrote: 93 Points
1/2 bottle during Dinnner at Palais Coburg, Vienna.
Typical Pauillac nose, strong bouquet, mild fruit and freshness. Very smooth, well-balanced but a bit bitter esp. with food.
Good length, mild tannin, structure ok but not impressive. Medium bodied. Although a typical 1st growth quality but really no good or impressive surprise.
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8/1/2011 - sergiozy wrote: 89 Points
acidic took a long time to open
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7/29/2011 - sergiozy wrote: 85 Points
Thin. I am hoping it gets. Better tonite it fisapointed
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5/21/2011 - AlanM68 wrote: 92 Points
Side by side with a Las Cases 1990 and a Gruaud Larose 1990, all from good sources and well cared for, the Lafite was the loser. It won't lose forever but right now it is hiding what it will become, even after being decanted and aired for a couple of hours. This wine needs more time, maybe 5 more years before it will shine and show its proper potential.
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5/6/2011 - soyhead wrote: 93 Points
First Growth Night 2011 (PRIMA): Tasted blind. Earthy nose. In the mouth earth meets fruit, showing slight bitter orange secondary flavors, has nice fine grained tannins, with a good broad finish. A quality wine.
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4/16/2011 - pablopilot wrote: 96 Points
Very soft and subtle. Perfect balance, awesome minerality, w characteristic graphite soil flavors. From double-mag. Drinking as well as one could imagine.
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4/3/2011 - beezer6 wrote: 93 Points
Taste at IV. Really elegant subtle red berry aromas. Rustic with a nice sous bois note.
Some light cigar box and earth. The palate shows well. Limited notes.
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4/2/2011 - gutt22 wrote:
From magnum, served blind. Dark red color. Nose was distinctly California in style: plenty of up-front fruit, a hint of graphite, and plenty of cedar. In the mouth, an improbably velvety texture that allowed for an expansive, notably ripe palate that was fruit-forward and easy drinking to come to the forefront. At the same time, the wine was distinctly evolved, with mature notes of damp earth, cedar, mushroom, and herbs surrounding the rich black fruit. The mouth feel was exceptional, and it was very surprising when the wine was revealed -- I would have put money on it being a superb 1980s California Cabernet. This didn't have the signature graphite nose of Lafite, but it was a marvelous wine nonetheless. A
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12/17/2010 - Guy Des Rosiers wrote: 93 Points
Tasted side-by-side with 1990 Latour. Very impressive nose of dark red fruit, with an unusual streak of something close to ripe camembert. Relatively full-bodied (compared to the Latour), with a strong note of bright cherry upfront, showing almost no age. However, the wine falls somewhat flat on the midpalate, and the length is disappointingly short. A very fine wine indeed, just not quite in the same league as the Latour (at least on this particular showing).
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10/9/2010 - mwanasheria wrote: 94 Points
Smoke, tar, tobacco, leather. Tannins very nicely integrated, silky and smooth.
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9/10/2010 - Jeff Leve wrote: 92 Points
A bit of a disappointment. The wine is good. But, at least to me, it's not First Growth in quality. Elegant in style, with its cedar and cassis profile, the fruit is high quality offering a lush mouth feel. But, the finish is moderate and there is not enough concentration to make this really exciting. With another decade, the wine will develop additional complexities, but at least to me, it will never offer a First Growth experience
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8/5/2010 - gondrik wrote: 99 Points
The bottle was opened 1 hour before drinking and was decanted. The initial nose was flower perfume. On the palate mature fruit was held in balance by the tannins. After an hour the wine had changed dramatically with tobacco and leather replacing the perfume. The tannins were dominant but not unpleasant. This was a wonderful experience.
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6/5/2010 - pea wrote: 93 Points
No nonsense Bordeaux nose and the body to back it up.
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5/22/2010 - 60ouvrees wrote:
So much elegance on the nose and the palate. Smooth, long finish. Outstanding.
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4/24/2010 - overhill wrote: 95 Points
Matt's pre-birthday dinner (Matt's house): Three hour decant. Next to '95 Clerc Milon and '99 Peter Michael Les Pavols. Clear favorite of the reds. The nose firm but refined slight barnyard, lead, mature red fruit. Gorgeous tar, lead pencil, blueberry, and chocolate in the mouth with excellent balance of tannin and acidity. Super elegant. Much delight with the long-ish finish which seemed to roll gently from the front to the back then to the front of the mouth.
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3/2/2010 - Fatty Cat wrote: 97 Points
Tasting "Domaines de Rothschild" at the Rheingau Gourmet Festival, early Mar 2010: rubin color; leather, cedar, cassis, tobacco, some chocolate, coffee, and yes, pencil; medium body; round texture; smooth finish.
Believe it or not the most expensive wine of the tasting was the best.
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12/2/2009 - pablopilot wrote: 92 Points
Characteristic lafite flavor profile, but not as pure or focused as one might want at this stage of development. Very hood, but not truly great.
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11/15/2009 - Jeff Leve wrote: 91 Points
Tight and closed. It was hard to see what this wine will offer in the future. Clearly this needs a decade or two before coming around. But, will it be worth the wait? Scored for potential.
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10/22/2009 - Rani wrote: 96 Points
Ran's 40th Birthday Extravaganza (Israel): Dark and almost impregnable. Pencil lead and cedar galore, along with dried herbs - thyme, sage, hint of eucalyptus. A highly-structured wine with a great midpalate of stone fruit, raspberry and blackcurrant, which were increasingly revealed with air along with floral elements. A class act, with years still ahead of it.
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7/21/2009 - dream wrote: 94 Points
This wine is getting more serious as it ages and it still needs tons of time. Nice thick texture with lovely lead pencil notes and black fruits. Elegant, classy and suprisingly rich. 94+
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7/11/2009 - placecarnot wrote: 94 Points
Thanks for the taste, Paul! Showing both youthfulness and readiness. Gorgeous tobacco nose, soft, not tannic at all palate. Knowing the wine's reputation, it will probably last decades and decades.
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6/17/2009 - Marc S wrote: 96 Points
Outstanding bottle of wine. This was decanted 2 hours prior to a wine dinner of first growth's. Dark red ruby in color. The nose of the wine is unbelievable. Cherries, blackcurrant and blackberry. A nice finish to the wine as well. A real star.
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6/6/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 95 Points
Laid back dinner with Co-Workers (Semiramis, Chicago IL): nose: this took a good while to get going, and sat in the decanter for about 2-3 hours. As it opened up, what emerged was the essence of finesse and precision with lovely perfumes just emitting out of the glass along with deep and nuanced tones of red cherries, red and black currants, tobacco, bits of leather and some beautiful tones of violets that just seem to lurk underneath. Beautiful and so balanced that you really need to focus on what is going on to try to understand it
taste: ever so elegant with a beautiful medium/full feel and good tannins letting you know that this wine isn't fully ready yet for primetime. Deft and silky with pure tones of berries, red cherries, red and black currants, leather, cedar, violets and some bits of cigar tobacco
overall: as can be ever so customary, the last sip was the best sip. This was continuously growing in the glass and enveloping the senses with its beauty. Ever so pure, this took a while to fully get going, and when it did, you just needed to let it do the talking. Beautiful and still getting better, this still needs some more time to fully let loose
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12/31/2008 - BradE wrote:
Ten Years Ago: Side by side of the 89 and 90 Lafite tonight, both out of magnum. The crowd was about 9 to 1 in preferring the 89. I thought the 89 was smoother, a bit more relaxed than the 90, and had a more approachable sweetness. The 90 is still a bit brooding, and while certainly in its drinking window, will benefit from further ageing.
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7/5/2008 - Zweder wrote: 94 Points
Private dinner with friends. (@ PVa): This is so much better than the Mouton of the same vintage. Still powerfull, but also soft and refined. Now great, but certainly has a future of several years.
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9/24/2007 - Paul D wrote:
Wine Society Famous Five Tasting - Bordeaux First Growths 2000 & 1990 (Merchant Taylors' Hall, Threadneedle Street, London EC2): Medium ruby core, medium pale rim. Extremely complex nose with slightly raisiny cassis fruit, caramel, spice and distinct mineral notes. Lovely on the palate, mellow and harmonious with elegant cassis fruit, clean acidity and then toffee/caramel notes on the long finish. Slightly elusive but will undoubtedly improve. Ranked (a close) 2nd out of 5.
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9/24/2007 - Rupert wrote: 93 Points
Famous Five tasting with Jancis Robinson (Merchant Taylors Hall, London): Very fine, so balanced and elegant, but substantial at the same time
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6/19/2007 - ski695 wrote: 93 Points
From 375ml. Nice maturing. Cedar notes. Very good finish but overall lacking from the heights I'd expect.
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6/8/2007 - G SQUARED wrote: 98 Points
Raid the Cellar Party at BWB. Stunning. This was in my top 3 of the night. So fresh and still a baby. Much less evolved than the 89 Petrus and as usual, much more feminine. Really a fine, elegant wine.
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5/6/2007 - tommydiesel wrote:
at home with the Pratt's.Slow to open,excellent balance,needs 10 more years.
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4/25/2007 - Jeff Leve wrote: 90 Points
Although very closed , with much coaxing, it served up scents of lead pencil, minerals, oak and fruit. Aside from being closed down, the elements did not integrate for me. It seemed disjointed and was light, even by Lafite standards. The wine improved in the glass, but it was not First Growth quality
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4/20/2007 - psmith wrote:
Graduation wines (Columbus, OH): More elegant, classic Lafite style. Red fruit and graphite. Medium-bodied and really well balanced throughout. Delicious with a great future.
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2/1/2007 - winefool wrote: 94 Points
HDH Comparative Bordeaux Tasting 1989 & 1990 (Casino Club): Pale pink color. Forward nose of pencil lead, black fruit, and green pepper notes. Serous blackcurrant fruit with noticeable pencil/graphite. Very nice. 94-95pts.
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1/28/2007 - bsherwin wrote: flawed
Bordeaux on the Hudson (Peter Pratt's Inn): Fairly well oxidized, this was a big disappointment. It did come around a little over time, but not to a Lafite level.
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1/11/2007 - DelYap wrote: 92 Points
Wine Pot Luck 03 Chave, 90 Lafite, 85 Groth Reserve et al: Amazing that this wine had been stored in my girlfriends closet for seven years. I expected it to be done, but it was still young and powerful. Classic cedar and sandalwood nose with lead shavings on the palate. If I had more I would not open another for 15 years. I can't imagine how slowly properly aged bottles would be progressing.
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1/9/2007 - Gregory Dal Piaz wrote: 93 Points
A post Holiday dinner with coworkers (nyc): This opens with a great nose, intensely liquory with ripe green herbs, smoke, tar, oakier but with great depth even a bit of grapey/grape pip fruit, develops a bit of ass while adding notes of mint and cigar box. Classic ripe vintage aromatics. In the mouth this is brighter than the 89 with more soft tannin, notes of olive oil, black olives and cedary wood on the attack backed up by a luch, ripe mouth feel. Still fairly tight and ungiving but with all the raw materials to be great. the balance here is particularly noteworthy. This needs many years to come into it's own. I'll try another bottle in 5 years or so but the nuance, subtlety, and finesse all bode very well indeed.
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12/5/2006 - D. Fulton wrote: 94 Points
A wonderful Lafite. Double decanted before dinner, the wine continued to open and evolve in the glass. While the 1995 and 1996 Lafites offered more power, at this point neither can match the elegance of the 1990. Leathery notes and a certainly earthiness serve as a perfect complement to a mature core of fruit. Fantastic wine.
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11/30/2006 - PeterH wrote: 92 Points
Consumed along with '90 Margaux and '90 Haut Brion at The Gotham Bar and Grill.
This is a really good bottle of wine. It's just not a great bottle of wine. Tannins are still a little rough, not quite balanced. Some cedar flavors, good length. On it's own, no problem. But against both the Margaux and Haut Brion, a lot of juice stayed in the glass.
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6/24/2006 - winefool wrote: 94 Points
Mmmmn. Very nice round sweet black fruit with lovely balance.
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6/12/2006 - D. Fulton wrote: 95 Points
Shows a powerful nose of graphite and freshly sharpened pencils. It’s powerful on the palate with notes of raspberry, cedar, blackberry, more graphite, and earthiness. There’s good acidity and a certain tartness in this wine. The finish is quite long and possesses a powerful blackberry note. Quite well structured.
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6/11/2006 - PeterH wrote: 94 Points
Huh. Much better that my last bottle. Maybe the previous reviews have been a little harsh. The 3 hours of decanting really helped. Has more of the cedar wood scents and flavors, cigar box, etc. Medium to medium-long length, paired well with grilled filet mignon topped with a mushroom sauce.
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4/25/2006 - MRichman wrote:
Lafite Rothschild vertical (DB Bistro Moderne, NYC): Full round fruit, some tannins not integrated. Over-ripe? Tar. Nice rich fruit.
A/A+
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4/12/2006 - MichaelB wrote: 92 Points
medium depth of color, some lightening at the rim. at first the nose was reticent, but it did open to reveal some mint, cassis, some tosted oak, paulliac and lafite like scents. this rounded out well on the palate. not a blockbuster, ready to drink, from this bottle i would have to say, ready now and not likely to get much better.
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2/27/2006 - jim dixon wrote: 95 Points
At a tasting that featured the 01, 95, 94, 90, 85, 83, and 79 this was the clear winner. If it was dormant, it isn't any longer -- it offered up a fabulously complex nose and was beautifully well-rounded on the palate. Time to start drinking these if you've got 'em!
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1/28/2006 - PeterH wrote: 91 Points
only ok. Just not a great wine, and I doubt it will ever be great
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12/31/2005 - Happy Sommelier Likes this wine: 96 Points
The 1990 Lafite Rothschild is one of the greatest wines I have had the pleasure to taste. While not as tasty as the 1982 the 1990 holds up quite clearly amongst the best. This vintage was made, perhaps intentionally, with the "American Drinker" in mind. Powerful, bold, and full bodied in a new world sort of way.
Cassis, liquorice, and violets are some of the flavours discussed. Awesome balance of fruit and acidity will ensure at least another 10 years of ageing potential.
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9/17/2005 - Burgundy Al wrote: 94 Points
HDH Pre-Auction Tasting (Chicago Athletic Club): Wine tasting. Very primary nose shows red and black cherry and plum with some hints of tobacco. Palate shows mostly the same fruit, perhaps less red cherry. Sensational structure with both tannins and acidity providing great emphasis on the finish. Hold to at least 2010, probably 2020 with real upside going forward.
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9/17/2005 - winefool wrote: 93 Points
HDH Pre-auction tasting (Chicago Athletic Club): Medium red color. Forward big red fruit aroma. Lovely red fruit with tannins still alive and well. Very good today, will be great.
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5/27/2005 - cousteau wrote: 95 Points
Tio Góe Velho Mundo x Novo Mundo (Enoteca Fasano): Intense, beautiful dark rubi with brick borders. The nose was so complex, still some good signs of fruit alongside all the cedar, graphite, leather, so many things. The palate is perfectly balanced, a gorgeous wine. I would say it has further aging to the top, but one can already get lost on this masterpiece.
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2/11/2005 - Eric wrote: 94 Points
Pre-Parker warmup dinner at Citronelle (Washington DC): People were VERY excited about this wine, but to me it seemed nice yet pedestrian. The nose is exotic, insane with textbook notes of cedar and amazing structure.
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1/29/2005 - Burgundy Al wrote: 91 Points
HDH Pre-Auction Tasting (Chicago IL): Wine tasting. Reticent nose seems very backward, same with the palate. Black cherry and plum with a dense woodsy character. Probably needs another 20 years, but I think this will become a much better wine vs. anything that could be coaxed out today.
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1/7/2005 - Blair Curtis wrote: 92 Points
Wine Olympics (Picasso Restaurant, Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada): A bit of latex paint on the nose. On the palate, quite tight and tannic. Classic structure - uncompromising. Ausone? (Group = 89.6)
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1/1/2005 - winefool wrote: 94 Points
Medium red garnet. Rich red aroma. Huge mouthful of ripe fruit. A second bottle for different source, not as good as the first. 1/05
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10/15/2004 - Eric wrote: 92 Points
Dinner at Rubicon and a surreal pre-tasting (San Francisco, CA): The nose screams of black fruit with notes of honey and a roasted, ripe quality. The palate is big bruising with a nice layering of flavors. The finish is very long with loads of graphite. The seemed to be awfully young though and seemed to clamp down a lot with more air. I found it a bit tough to evaluate.
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9/10/2004 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 91 Points
Copenhagen Tasting Group welcomes Tom in DC; 9/5/2004-9/10/2004 (Copenhagen): Dark red colour with some clearing at the rim, and a little bit of sediment. Notes of ink with an alcoholic nature to the bouquet. In the mouth the wine was juicy and delicious with very good and precise acid and balance. The complexity left a little bit to be desired for a really high score, but in all this was a very nice drink, and I would say that now is as good a time as any to open a bottle. In my opinion this wine is better than it's reputation, although it is not blockbuster-Lafite.
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2/1/2001 - sdr Likes this wine: 90 Points
It’s very elegant. Rather soft for a 1990 First Growth. Seems almost fully mature. Subtle and complex.
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5/1/2000 - sdr Likes this wine: 91 Points
Delicious. A medium weight Lafite. Not much complexity yet but the purity of the fruit is impressive. Charming. Might develop but it’s delicious right now.
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4/1/1996 - sdr Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very deep color, regal First Growth nose, reminds me of the ‘86 but much more approachable. Long finish. Fine future.
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