Wine Advisor
Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1945
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Description
Within the five rarefied first growths, Lafite is perhaps the wine with the best reputation for quality and longevity, commanding correspondingly high prices. It is considered by some to be the best wine to come out of Bordeaux. In 1815, Guillaume Lawton said of Château Lafite, “I consider it to be the the most elegant and delicate, with the finest substance of the three (Premier Crus). The location of its vines is one of the finest in the Médoc”. In 1855 the Château was ranked as a Premier Grand Cru in the famous classification that was prepared for the Universal Exhibition of that year. Lafite is also known as the ‘King’s wine’, after being introduced to the Court at Versailles by Maréchal Richelieu.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
This bottle of 1945 Lafite-Rothschild comes from famous Graham Lyons cellar and was re-corked in 1983. It actually snowed at Lafite-Rothschild on 1 May that year when the vines were already 15 days in advance, summer saw sporadic hail and harvest commenced on 13 September with berries at miraculously ripe levels. What a wine! Deeper in color than the 1949 Lafite-Rothschild, the 1945 has a haunting bouquet, with vestiges of red fruit mixed with graphite, cold stone, crushed rose petals and briary. It gently builds in the glass and with aeration becomes ever more vivid and delineated. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannin, perfect acidity, pure and weightless, one of the most nuanced 1945s you will find. It is utterly sublime, never showing off and never trying too hard. It just shimmers with a pedigree that is undiminished after the passing decades. This might be one of the occasions where I prefer the Lafite-Rothschild to the more ostentatious 1945 Latour. Tasted at the Lafite-Rothschild dinner at Amuse Bouche in Hong Kong.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Amazing nose of plums and delicate currants. Full and wonderfully silky and dense with a light plum jam and bright acidity. Phenomenal finish. Delicate and fruity.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Amazing nose of plums and delicate currants. Full and wonderfully silky and dense with a light plum jam and bright acidity. Phenomenal finish. Delicate and fruity.
1903(1)1907(1)1910(1)1911(1)1913(1)1918(1)1934(2)
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