1996 Chateau Lafite Rothschild [D100][WA98][JS97][V97]

Producer: Chateau Lafite-Rothschild 
Region: Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
Blend: 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot 
Year: 1996 

Decanter, 100 Points 

"An elegant but muscular Lafite, really summing up the trajectory that this wine takes over decades in a good vintage. It started out in its early years with huge concentration, more in fact than in many vintages, but it is now showcasing the subtlety and infinite range of flavours and aromatics that makes Lafite such a singular wine. Expect layers of earth, cigar box, liquorice, cold ash, blackberry, cassis, pencil lead, mint leaf and crushed rock minerality. The first Lafite to be put in an anti-fraud engraved bottle. 38% of overall production in the first wine, quite low at the time although typical today. 3% Petit Verdot completes the blend." 

Wine Advocate, 98 Points 

"The 1996 Lafite-Rothschild was remarkably deep in color considering that it is now 20 years in age. The bouquet is classic Pauillac with pencil shavings and sous-bois infusing the black fruit, masculine and a little aloof, yet focused and very well delineated. The palate is very well balanced with crisp blackberry and boysenberry fruit, spicier than I recollect, a crescendo of flavors so that it seems understated at first but fans out with a sense of confidence towards the finish. I think this still has more to give so cellar it away for another 5-8 years if you can, but otherwise this is an exemplary Lafite-Rothschild that I can envisage getting better and better in bottle, if not quite as enthralling as either Mouton-Rothschild or Château Margaux." 

James Suckling, 97 Points 

"The beauty and balance of this are phenomenal. Seamless tannins and fruit. Full body yet so balanced and refined. Sweet tobacco and berries. Minerals and cedar. A beautiful wine. The depth is superb." 

Vinous, 97 Points 

"The 1996 Lafite-Rothschild is the strongest wine from the First Growth in that decade. This bottle, served blind and ex-château in Bordeaux, is so precociously backward that I estimate it to be half its age. Blackberry, cedar and graphite are here as usual, though this bottle has even more intensity than the one served at the estate in 2018. The palate is brilliantly balanced with fine tannins and very intense graphite-infused fruit; there's just a touch more fruité on the finish. Superb." 

Alcohol: 13% 

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