France

Cabernet Sauvignon

Merlot

Cabernet Franc

Petit Verdot

Ch. Lafon-Rochet

Chateau Lafon-Rochet 4eme Cru Classe Saint-Estephe

Bordeaux

Saint-Estephe

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2023 Lafon-Rochet leaps with vibrant notes of kirsch, cranberry preserves, and fresh blackberries leading to hints of bay leaves, graphite, and damp soil. The medium-bodied palate is lively and lightly chewy, with great tension adding sparkle to the red and black berry layers, finishing with an herbal lift. The blend is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 3% Cabernet Franc, with pH 3.75.

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

Confident colour extraction, this is dark ruby but nuanced, with vibrant reflections. After two years with Christophe Congé as director, you are starting to see more precision and focus in the constructino of the wine, with blackberry and bilberry fruits set against slate and smoked earth. Balanced alcohols, firm taninins. All four varieties in the blend.

Inside Bordeaux

This is juicy, drawn out,  balanced, elegant, showing lean black fruits laced with fennel and anis, plenty of slate tannins, just a little leafy on the finish. 3.67 pH. 40% new oak, highest proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon on record.

Baked plum, damson, black pepper, edges of cut herbs and dried rose petals, campfire smoke and soot. This is intense but has an aromatic quality that hugs through the palate, and the tannins are plentiful but well controlled. 50% new oak plus some large oak casks, and 400l barrels; almost 60% 1st wine, down from 70% last year (in a better vintage this year, really an indication of the focus on quality under the new team). Harvest September 12 to 27. Eric Boissenot consultant together wtih director Christophe Congé, ex Lafite, in his first full vintage. As of 2024 this will be the first Cru Classé in St Estèphe to be certified organic.

Raspberry leaf and greenage on the opening beats, followed up by slate and saffran, with plenty of linear blueberry and raspberry fruit. The transition vintage in terms of ownership at Lafon, in a challenging year anyway, and with the best will in the world this is on the austere side of the vintage. 32hl/h yield, 70% 1st wine. 2nd year in official conversion to organic, wll be certified with 2023 vintage. Harvest 27 to October 8. 30hl/h yield, 50% new oak. Christophe Congé appointed technical director, arriving early 2022 just a few months after the Lorenzetti purchase, so overseeing the ageing.

Mørke bær i form av bjørnebær og blåbær. Videre er det plommer, tørkede blomster og noe «julekrydder» i form av anis og kanel. Stødig nese uten å være overmåte interessant. I munnen oppleves vinen å være veldig godt balansert på tross av at den er primær. Balansert syreprofil løfter konsentrert frukt og en tydelig og muskuløs «stofflig» profil i vinen som vitner om høy ekstraksjon. Utgang med god lengde og finkornet, myndig tanninprofil. This is going somewhere! La ligge i 5-10 før neste flaske.

WSET 2

👃 Solbær, blåbær, paprika, pepper, vanilje, lakris og mint. Flott duft! 

👄 En imøtekommen og åpen vin. God bærkonsentrasjon hele veien. I tillegg er det sjokolade, mint og vanilje. Sitter lenge.

Overraskende tilgjengelig og myk til å være en ung Saint-Estéphe.


Expert

Lafon-Rochet 2018 has a deep garnet-purple color. It starts out a little rubbery and reduced, leading to a core of warm cassis, blackberry pie, and chargrill, plus touches of garrigue, dried herbs, and tobacco. The medium to full-bodied palate has a good concentration of savory flavors with chewy tannins and soft acidity, finishing a little firm. 

Mørk farge, mot lilla. Smak av bjørnebær, lakris(salte lakrisbåter), noe urtepreg. Digg vin, balanserte tanniner, fin utgang, ikke så lang. Lett preg av paprika kommer med tid( veldig lite Frank i blenden )….

Amatør

The nose is fruity with blackcurrants and blackberries. There is also red meat, damp cellars and some tobacco. It is complex and appealing. The palate is full-bodied, velvety, intensely fruity and moderately acidic. The tannins are noticeable, but mature and nicely wrapped. The finish is long and complex. This is a brilliant vintage and this producer has delivered one of his best wines. It paired very well with the entrecot from Chez-Colin in Oslo.

The 2014 Lafon-Rochet is medium to deep garnet in color. Scents of plum pudding, licorice, and dried leaves slowly emerge from the glass, followed by hints of Indian spices, dried blackberries, and incense. The medium-bodied palate has nice harmony, with soft tannins and a spicy finish.

The 2013 Lafon-Rochet has a medium garnet color, with a touch of brick. On the nose notes of tobacco leaf, dried herbs, and wet slate give way to hints of new leather, dried plums, and tobacco. The medium-bodied palate is a little flat and faded, with a chewy texture and a stewed tea finish.

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2012 Lafon-Rochet offers up notes of cinnamon toast, dried mint, and cigar box over a core of fruitcake and warm cassis. The medium-bodied palate is firm and rugged, with just enough spicy fruit and a chewy finish.

Opens with a punch of crunchy black fruits, blueberry and cassis with touches of tomato leaf and cumin. Good spicy notes, well structured tannins, but lacks depth through the mid palate compared to very best in the appellation.

Easy to approach, blackberry and raspberry fruits, touches of tomato leaf and white pepper, this lacks some depth through the mid palate but is enjoyable and ready to go. A little disappointing for a classified wine in such a great vintage.

These were good years for Lafon Rochet, when it was a little under-the-radar but making good quality, consistent wine, and you'll find here classic, balanced, old-school St Estèphe flavours. Plenty of ripe red fruits, gentle wafts of blond tobacco aromatics, showcasing the balance and simple charms of the vintage. Tannins frame remains clear, and the acidity is just a little higher than ideal, but plenty of juice and character, and hard to argue with. Harvest September 19 to October 9, 3.6ph.

Category	Red wine
Vinmonopolet no.
Producer	Ch. Lafon-Rochet
Vintages	2023
Country	France, Bordeaux, Saint-Estephe
Bottle	75 cl

Alcohol	%
Acid	%
Sugar	g/l

Packaging
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Wholesaler
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