2004 Château Lafite Rothschild Pauillac Bordeaux France Wine Tasting Note

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2004 Château Lafite Rothschild  (Pauillac) 95 If you prefer your elegance and refined character-filled wines on the young, buy reaching adolescent side, where the fruit, with its trail of tobacco leaf, cedar, cigar box, lead pencil, and salty rocks is just starting to fold into the secondary stage, you came to the right place. While another 5-10 years will really bring this to center stage, due to its forward style, this is starting to work in your glass. If you prefer your elegance and refined character-filled wines on the young, buy reaching adolescent side, where the fruit, with its trail of tobacco leaf, cedar, cigar box, lead pencil, and salty rocks is just starting to fold into the secondary stage, you came to the right place. While another 5-10 years will really bring this to center stage, due to its forward style, this is starting to work in your glass. 10,530 Views   Tasted Oct 24, 2018  • Buy This Wine For The Lowest Price DOWNLOAD TASTING NOTE | Post to Silky, polished and refined, there is a sweet, fresh quality to the wine, as well as a beautiful purity of fruit that even at just 12 years of age is already starting to shine through. Still young, if you like wines at just past their initial, primary stage of development, pop a cork. If you're seeking more secondary character, you'll need to wait a decade. Produced from a blend of 90.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot, this is one of the wines of the vintage. Silky, polished and refined, there is a sweet, fresh quality to the wine, as well as a beautiful purity of fruit that even at just 12 years of age is already starting to shine through. Still young, if you like wines at just past their initial, primary stage of development, pop a cork. If you're seeking more secondary character, you'll need to wait a decade. Produced from a blend of 90.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot, this is one of the wines of the vintage. 5,063 Views   Tasted Dec 9, 2015 Medium bodied, with a nose of cedar, earth, tobacco, fresh, spicy, red and black fruits and cigar box aromas. Soft, elegant and refined, but lacking a depth of flavor and concentration expected from a First Growth in the fresh, mineral driven finish. Medium bodied, with a nose of cedar, earth, tobacco, fresh, spicy, red and black fruits and cigar box aromas. Soft, elegant and refined, but lacking a depth of flavor and concentration expected from a First Growth in the fresh, mineral driven finish. 8,489 Views   Tasted Jan 4, 2015 Inky dark, almost opaque in color. The aromatics remain primary with cassis, cedar and earthy notes in the lead. The tannins are ripe, soft and round. This incredibly rich, powerful and opulently styled wine is not open, unless you're seeking a science project. The power and finesse of this stylish wine only hint at what consumers will taste in 15 or more years. Inky dark, almost opaque in color. The aromatics remain primary with cassis, cedar and earthy notes in the lead. The tannins are ripe, soft and round. This incredibly rich, powerful and opulently styled wine is not open, unless you're seeking a science project. The power and finesse of this stylish wine only hint at what consumers will taste in 15 or more years. 11,193 Views   Tasted Jan 3, 2013 This is dark, almost opaque in color. The aromatics remain primary with cassis, cedar and earthy notes in the lead. The tannins are ripe, soft and round. This incredibly rich, powerful and opulently styled wine is not open, unless you're seeking a science project. The power and finesse of this stylish wine only hint at what consumers will taste in 15 or more years. As a comparison, an 04 La Mission Haut Brion was paired against the 04 Lafite, and the La Mission was eviscerated. The La Mission was light and boring next to the Lafite, none of us paid it much attention! 04 Lafite is a definite contender for wine of the vintage. This is dark, almost opaque in color. The aromatics remain primary with cassis, cedar and earthy notes in the lead. The tannins are ripe, soft and round. This incredibly rich, powerful and opulently styled wine is not open, unless you're seeking a science project. The power and finesse of this stylish wine only hint at what consumers will taste in 15 or more years. As a comparison, an 04 La Mission Haut Brion was paired against the 04 Lafite, and the La Mission was eviscerated. The La Mission was light and boring next to the Lafite, none of us paid it much attention! 04 Lafite is a definite contender for wine of the vintage. 11,222 Views   Tasted Jan 4, 2010

When to Drink Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Lafite Rothschild is not a wine to drink on the young side. The wine is usually far too tannic and reserved in its youth. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 3-6 hours, give or take. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume.

Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. Chateau Lafite Rothschild is usually better with at least 15 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. Chateau Lafite Rothschild offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 15 and 60 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Chateau Lafite Rothschild with Wine and Food Pairings

Chateau Lafite Rothschild is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.

Chateau Lafite Rothschild is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Chateau Lafite Rothschild is also good when matched with Asian dishes, rich fish courses like tuna, salmon, mushrooms, and pasta.

Chateau Lafite Rothschild is the most elegantly styled of the three First Growths from Pauillac. But do not confuse the term elegant with light. Chateau Lafite is perhaps the most aromatic of the First Growths as well, with a perfume that fills the air with cedar, cassis, spice, tobacco, truffle, lead pencil, dark, red berries, and earthy notes.

In the best vintages, the wine requires decades to develop to its full potential. Trust me on this, it is worth the wait!

Lafite Rothschild is also involved in several diverse wine investments in countries outside of France. Vina Los Vascos in Chile was their first venture outside of Bordeaux, where they make several red and white wines primarily from Coloagua Chile.

In 1999, they joint ventured with the Catena family in Mendoza, Argentina to produce Bodegas Caro.

Continuing to expand, in 1999, they purchased Domaine d’Aussieres in the Languedoc-Roussillon appellation, located just below the Southern Rhone Valley. Their first move to Asia came in 2011 when they planted vines in the Penglai Peninsula in the Shandong Province in China. The vineyards were planted by Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.

Since 1995, the DBR group has also produced "The Collection," which is a series of generic, low-priced wines from various Bordeaux appellations sold under the name of Legende.

www.lafite.com