1980 Château Lafite Rothschild

Community Tasting Notes (14) Avg Score: 90.5 points

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  9/18/2021 - sirpat00 wrote: 94 Points

  Bottle in perfect condition and consumed at a hotel where the owner‘s farther bought a few cases for the son‘s birth year. Only double-dacented to remove the sediment. Spices and dried herbs create a the backdrop for a dark cherry and bramble berry fruit which still feels fresh, while also being quite discreet. This is all balances perfect aging notes of forest floor, wet earth and just a whiff of mushrooms. Weightless and soft on the palate, not at all watery with enough structure left. Considering how bad this must have been when bottled, waiting 40 years was definitely worth it!

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  10/12/2020 - Cailles wrote: 89 Points

  13x 1980 Birthday Bash: What to expect from a mediocre 1980 vintage in Bordeaux? We tasted Mouton, Lafite, Haut Brion and Pichon Lalande all blind side by side. The Mouton (92 points) and especially the Lafite (89) display some nice tertiary aromatics but are lacking substance, precision and balance (especially on the palate). Haut Brion (95) and Pichon Lalande (94) are beautifully mature with lots of tertiary flavors and surprisingly still plenty of fruit. Both are quite clean, focused and harmonious. Of course the complexity and finesse are not on par with great vintages but still these were quite enjoyable.
  
  TN: Less expressive than the Mouton this showed a tad more feminine with brighter fruit. With time it drifted more in the Barolo camp with tarry minerality and some herbal and hints of floral notes. Quite nice nose and easily on a 94 points level. The palate needed time to become softer and rounder but it never fully got to a good level, it never really came together. Acidity is too high, too astringent, not harmonious enough, slightly green with lots of minerality at the core and only some fruit here and there popping up.
  
  Decanting: Double decanted 2+ hours before service. More decanting after the first few glasses brought no more improvement.

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  9/19/2020 - sirpat00 wrote: 93 Points

  "You only turn 40 once tasting" (At home): Double-decanted. A slightly perfumed nose with drops of sweetness, a lighter, red cherry type of fruit profile complemented by mint candy. Also cigar box. Great flavour intensity overall. Pretty lightly structured palate. Paired against Mouton 1980 in the flight the consensus (6 of 8 votes) was clearly in favour of Mouton, but in my view the aromatic breadth was just simply more impressive with Lafite – even if Mouton had a firmer palate. After the flight we poured about 1/3 of the bottle in a decanter to see if we could tickle more out of this, but in my view no material improvement. Overall, not quite on the same level as the last bottle a month ago, but not far behind.

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  8/19/2020 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Quick double-decant did the trick. Bottle and cork in perfect condition, acquired by the owner's farther (former born in 1980) upon released and kept in the family hotel's wine cellar ever since. Pleasantly surprised by the nicely aged nose of tobacco, cedar and faint peppery spices surrounding a still present, red cherry fruit with some darker and blue berry layers around it. After a while floral notes complement the picture. Palate still intact although with limited structure. Still some fruit left and less pronounced aging notes to be found here. 1980 was a near-horrible vintage and this came as a big positive surprise - I was expecting something rather unpleasant and way beyond its peak - and yet alas it seems 40 years of aging have withered away everything there was not to like and just left the agreeable essence of a great vineyard and a great estate. Drank this over ~3h and it actually kept its posture while exhibiting Pinot-like elegance, a texture that was light like a feather and delicate aroma notes. I guess I really got lucky with this bottle...

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  7/8/2020 - hprphf wrote: 90 Points

  Bordeaux Left Bank First Growth BYO (Grand Hyatt Hong Kong): Good cigar box nose. 90

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