2009 Château Lafite Rothschild

Community Tasting Notes

Community Tasting Notes (26) Avg Score: 96.6 points

  • Some generous parent brought 3 bottles to a school fundraising La Paulee. The 3 bottles were left over from a dinner from night before, and so the wines had breathed for 24 hours.

    Purple-pink rim, opaque ruby red. Some sediments. Blackcurrant, blackberry, blueberry, dark cherry, violet, lavender, dried herbs, mild oak and mild tobacco. Medium-full bodied, medium-high acidity, medium tannin (after 24 hours of breathing in bottle), medium-high structure, medium alcohol and forever finish. Classic Lafite signature perfume bouquet. Wine was so youthful that hardly any tertiary notes like pencil shaving or cedar. Just some mild tobacco.

    The palate was silky, light yet full of dynamic range. Notes were dancing on the tongue. Great wines often had a taste memory encore appearing the next day. That was usually when we got hook to those wines. I was able to re-enjoy it when the memory popped up next day in the early morning.

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  • Whole Lotta Lafite; 1/26/2024-1/27/2024 (Wine Watch, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): An odd aroma of beef broth appeared briefly then settled down to a more classic red berry scent. Very tannic but fortunately not bitter. Slightly low in acidity but the stuffing mostly hides it. At age 15 it is an awkward teenager. Too soon to tell exactly how it will turn out.

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  • Dinner at home beef Wellington con Holman

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  • Served to friends at dinner to accompany chicken and apricot terrine. Opened and decanted 2 hours before tasting and served at cellar temperature (13C). This is the first time I have tasted Lafite in 20 years, so as I'm a wine enthusiast, it must be regarded as a rare treat.

    I'm a Bordeaux lover and this displayed many of the typical Bordeaux characteristics. There was good fresh fruit, blackcurrants, plums. But it is clearly young and didn't display any earthiness which is typical of Bordeaux wines at their peak (and an aspect of Bordeaux wines which I really enjoy). It was full, rich and long, exceptionally well balanced.

    I am scoring this 92 based on how it is tasting at the moment. Yes, it's very good, but I didn't think it was the best Bordeaux I've ever tasted. I think this wine has the potential to become great, maybe a 99 or 100 in time, but I think we are talking another 10 years to achieve that.

    It was a privilege to taste this wine. I'm not getting any younger, so I wanted to experience this wine whilst I'm still able to do so. All those around the table realised we were drinking a legendary wine and we'll remember the experience for a long time.

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  • Near opaque with a tight purple rim

    What a nose! Cool and focused but both deep and broad, enveloping and seamlessly soft yet beautifully defined and pure. Blue fruits, loganberry, beautifully ripe rather than ‘sweet’ and super fragrant (Douro like). Even the graphite note is gorgeously melted and perfumed – really wow stuff and only getting started.

    Great volume and scale, wonderfully pure and the tannins are doing that creamy/resolved 2009 thing. The balance is amazing, this is seriously intense and generously layered with more perfumed fruits – blue notes, pot pourri (not cloying)… It is so silky and poised… driven and purposeful without being… ‘animated’.

    I feel lucky to have tasted this with bottle age, but its still a baby and I can only wonder what it will become in another 15, 25, 40 years.

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  • A joy to drink: I never thought I’d say that about Lafite. Amazing aromatics, expansive, mouth-filling palate, superb balance and control. It ran with the year, pushed everything to the max, but held back enough with razor-sharp precision to make this one of the greats. Brilliant wine-making and unlike many others in this tasting not showing those over-ripe, banana peel aromatics and slightly blowsy fruit and lack of drive, vibrancy and freshness. A master-class and a master piece. More forward than the Latour, but on a par as the two left bank titans of the vintage, Mouton and Montrose running them both close. I suspect will get to 99 or 100 in time.

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  • 82.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10.5% Petit Verdot, 7% Merlot from 45% of crop selection

    Dark inky core, still quite purplish hue, opaque and youthful looking.

    The aromatic profile is quite muted (after 2 hours decanting in the bottle, and in the decanter for 2 hours over the meal). Definitely denser and more stuffed on the nose than the 2007 Lafite tasted alongside which is more perfume. It shows a lot of savory fruit characters. Blackberry, blueberry, some licorice, with a dash of spices.

    The palate is huge, dense tannin (not coerce or dusty), medium plus body, dry. Again, not a lot of flamboyant actions here. Reserved showing of creme de cassis, a bit of red cherry, dark plum. Typical Pauillac gunpowder, pencil lead, and graphite are all there. But it seems everything is being hidden under a cloak. The texture is creamy, almost milk chocolate. Finish is still left on the oak-influenced notes. Long but uncomfortably dense.

    I think this wine is under its hibernation period. Very reserved but you can see the potentials, a lot of those as well. It needs at least 10 more years I think to be even remotely ready. Ideally, this should be singing by its 30th birthday. Today, a little bit of an infanticide, I'm afraid. But glad to give PSA. 2029-??? 93++

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  • IWFS Lafite Big Bottles (The Modern): Almost more approachable than the 2000 although also seems like it might be in a bit of a 'dead' phase. Just all around quieter and more muted than the rest. Some black fruits and very soft in style. Less energy. From a magnum.

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  • Lafite Rothschild vertical (Taberna del Alabardero, Washington D.C.): I tasted at the 09 En Primeur and thought it was the best wine of the vintage along with the 09 VCC and Beausejour Duffau. I put money where my mouth is and bought a lot. This bottle is from the last two cases that I purchased the day before Bob gave the wine 99pts. The Lafite market crashed and I have been stuck with what I bought. Explosive nose displaying incredibly concentrated primary black fruit, crème de cassis, blackberry concentrate, ink, liquid smoke, cabernet floral dust, milk chocolate, strong lead pencil and crushed rock. Unbelievable concentration, layers upon layers of intense primary black fruit, unctuous and opulent but also showing perfectly balanced and weightless, bright acidity and mineral, the tannins are completely masked by the opulent fruit, and the never ending finish. Perhaps the most concentrated Lafite, even bigger than the 86, 96, 00 and 03. This will be one of the greatest Lafite of our time.

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  • Served blind although I knew it was 09 1st growth. I was in between Margaux and Lafite but gave the nod to the right one in the end. Very airy, such clean and yummy juice at this juncture I kid you not when I say I could have guessed this as top notch 2015 red Burgundy if served fully blind. Not a monster I expected at all the bottle had been opened in the morning. Surely only primary goodies here and nobody should seriously consider pulling corks for another 15-20 years. But it was a very tasty infaticide. Very difficult to rate today so I would say a very large bracket of 94-99 settling for 96 for its primary pleasures.

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  • Zowel direct na het ontkurken als na enkele uren beluchting maakt deze wijn een zeer gesloten indruk. Een zeer beperkte expressiviteit met beperkte nuances. Ook in de mond maakt deze 2009 Lafite geen grootse indruk en al helemaal geen indruk die past bij de reputatie en prijs van deze wijn. Er is absoluut sprake van concentratie, maar nog niet van een begin van complexiteit. Niet onaangenaam, maar zeker niet groots. Mijn voornemen is dan ook om deze wijn TENMINSTE nog vijf jaar met rust te laten.

    Both immediately after uncorking and after a few hours of aeration, this wine makes a very closed impression. Very limited expressiveness with limited nuances. Also on the palate, this 2009 Lafite does not make a grand impression, and certainly not an impression that matches the reputation and price of this wine. There is definitely concentration, but not yet the beginning of complexity. Not unpleasant, but certainly not grand. My intention is therefore to leave this wine alone for AT LEAST another five years.

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  • What a wine, wow! It's crazy to think that this is a bottle of fermented grapes. The expression of terroir with insane minerality, hints of mint, leather, quite concentrated fruit and beautiful flowers make this a perfect wine already. The length is staggeringly long and breathtaking.

    Decanted while drinking for about 6 hours, the nose changed quite a bit throughout the night, but the palate stayed the same. The roaring minerality on the palate was in focus and the tannins are amazing. It's unfortunate how much these bottles cost, but it is so worth it if you can afford it!

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  • Elegant, fresh, vibrant, lively, focused and refined, there is a beautiful purity to the fruit found here. Classic Pauillac here, but the wine is also lush and almost opulent in nature. Medium/full-bodied, with delicious array of red and black fruits, tobacco leaf, crushed stone, smoke and crisp red fruits in the end note, this beauty demands at least 15 more years to start delivering its true potential. The wine was made from blending 82.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and .5% Cabernet Franc. This is the highest percentage of Merlot in the blend since 1995. The wine reached 13% alcohol.

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  • 2009 Bordeaux 10 years in the bottle 2-day horizontal; 6/23/2019-6/24/2019 (Fribourg): Part of a grand Bordeaux 2009 tasting spanning 2 days that revealed 1) a right bank struggling with overripe fruit and overwhelming tannins, 2) wide spreak between top performers and laggards, 3) left bank, and especially Margaux, outshone the right bank cousins, 4) Top wines: Palmer, Margaux, Cheval Blanc, Vieux Chateau Certan.

    Tasting note:
    Deep, voluptuous and perfumed nose with dark, red and blue fruit complemented by leather as well as some barnyard and oak. Full body and complex aromatics on the attack, albeit with limited length. A bit of heat taints the picture.

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  • Bordeaux 2009 - 10 Years On - 47 Reds; 6/23/2019-6/24/2019: 2009 Bordeaux after 10 years. 48 red wines. The left bank (average rating 94.2) clearly trumps the right bank (92.6): Elegance, purity and freshness vs over-extraction, ripeness and oxidation. But there are some winners on the right bank (Cheval, Petrus, Hosanna for now, Lafleur, Trotanoy medium-term) but the highest scores were given to left bank wines (Margaux #1 overall, Palmer, Mouton, for now, Latour, St. Juliens medium-term). I guess purists will not like the loads of oak-derived aromas which in some wines are great but can make the wines a bit slutty (Cheval, Margaux, quite a lot of right banks). But there are plenty of more classically shaped wines too. Overall, the 2009s are a lot of fun with many pockets of greatness but I would be very selective on the right bank. If you like more elegant, subtle and classic wines I would focus on 2005/2010/2016. All wines tasted blind and without decanting.

    TN: Lots of wood along some dark fruit dominates the nose. Same picture on the palate with a not (yet) integrated oak component, pure dark fruit, with some swirling some Bordeaux barnyard stink, mint and minerality. Overall tight and muted with lots of not integrated tannins, hard edges but a good freshness (as all left banks). This was consensus the weakest wine in the flight with Issan, Haut Bailly and Domaine de Chevalier. I wouldn‘t yet throw it into the bin as the wine was not decanted. Probably 10 more years (or a 10h decant today) will reveal more potential. But this wine was not a lot of joy to drink.

    Average blind score 4 tasters: 91.8
    Rank: 41st out of 48 wines

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  • Still very youthful and deep crimson core; A little heady on first sniff though to be fair this sample is a little warm. Quite locked and tight - not giving much away; pretty incredible on the palate - tightly coiled and then explodes across the palate. A baby obviously, but so much potential. Lovely weight and finely woven tannins. Delicious - those who get to drink it in 20 years+ will have a real treat in store.

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  • Quite a heady nose which is dense and brooding - good quality fruit here but tightly wound; gorgeous spread on the palate, washes around in a lush fashion, typical of the vintage. Still very youthful and undeveloped but the finesse is apparent and the structure is softening, albeit slowly.

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  • Complex. A lot is going on. Blackberry, prune, graphite, some mint, bell pepper, cedar. On palate it escalate to another level. Concentrated but light weight, exceptional precision and volume. More tobacco, tea, sweet earth flavours noted mingling with similar notes from nose. So long. Classy with perfect balance. With very ripe and soft tannin and being so delicious now. It isn’t sinful to drink. 99+

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  • Unmistakeably the 2009 vintage on the nose - opulent fruit mingled with toasty classy oak at this youthful stage. It seems to be evolving at a snails pace. The fruit is extraordinary, covering the full spectrum of nuance but focused primarily towards the dark side; humming with vibrancy and energy on the palate, still so young. The tannins in this vintage are so very fine and the fruit concentration is limitless. Its going to be a fascinating journey with these wines and will be intriguing to see how they stack up against the 1982s when the reach a comparable maturity. Very long.

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  • This bottle was opened and poured immediately. It was clear and deep garnet red in colour. I don't remember exact notes on this one but overall the flavours as well as the balance in the tannins and acidity coupled with a long finish were all stunning. This might have been a 100 point wine but I'd like to try another one with some decanting and see.

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  • Chateau Lafite Rothschild - 20 year vertical blind tasting (Fribourg): Tasted blind. Dark ruby. Nose of barnyard, dark fruit with very good complexity. Enters the palate very full and ripe but unfortunately also with an alcoholic touch, argh! Young and tannic on the palate still being abit disjointed today. Time will tell since the vintage is of good pedigree, however, clearly outshined tonight by the stars of the tasting, the 2010, 2005, 2003 and 2000. Group rank # 6/20. Readiness: Wait.

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  • First Growths, Yquem, 100+Madeira (John V.'s): This one stood out for its youth of course but was very interesting. 2009 is such an accessible vintage, but I wondered would that extend to Lafite? Certainly it did. This wine is drinking beautifully right now. The question that we had was is it typical. Jeff described it as a gorgeous 2009 but lacking Lafiteness. I would agree to some extent. Blind with a bunch of the best Napa cabs, it might be WOTN, but would anyone pick it out as a ringer? I doubt it. Inky purple in color. The nose has cassis, cedar, black licorice and vanilla. On the palate, lovely lush texture. Tons of cassis fruit. Some tannins. delicious. Long finish. This was open and drinking beautifully tonight. I think it will still improve a lot and easily last a couple more decades. I doubt I will get to try it again, but it would be interesting to revisit if much farther down the road to see where it went.

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  • Unmistakable stench of Lafite perfume and Pauillac pencil lead, and cold steel let you know that this is the real deal. If you enjoy power, its drinkable now. If you are after intellectual elegance and more of head high from the stains this wine leaves on the memory, resist the temptation for 20 years. I would embrace all the 80's and 90's for a while, especially the 86,90, and the killer 96'

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  • decant 90 mins.drnk side by side with vega sisilia unico 95.distintive nose n paate.the lafite has lean body,finess,elegance,so much energy,depth.its almost compltete for a bttl of wine.wat happen to the 2 points,u mitw wonder.if tis bttl has a little more black ting goin on just like pontet canet 09.wow,tis wil perfect

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  • 2009 Lafite has an inky, deep ruby color. Cassis, plums, cedar, lead pencil, fennel, coffee, and cedar pop from the glass. The elegantly textured wine melts in your mouth. Its flavors are intense, pure, and supple. The tannins are ripe and round. The wine finishes with exotic plums and chocolate covered dark cherries. 97-99 Pts

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  • 82.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 0.5% Petit Verdot

    Flower, crushed sea salt, incredible concentration, licorice, delicate. Lafite and VCC clearly demonstrated great inner energy while maintaining incredible elegance. Extremely silky palate with never ending finish. 100 pts.

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