1990 Château Lafite Rothschild

Community Tasting Notes (249) Avg Score: 94.5 points

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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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