Château Lafite Rothschild - Pauillac 2018

Wine Spectator

97 / 100

par James Molesworth le 01/02/2021

Very pure, with a sleek and extremely focused beam of cassis, black cherry puree and blackberry preserves streaming through, lined along the edges with savory, sweet bay leaf and black tea details. Those extra notes assert themselves through the finish, but without intruding too much on the fruit, letting it play out over a long iron spine. Hums with precision. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2030 through 2045. –JM

Yvesbeck.wine

94 / 100

par Yves Beck le 26/01/2021

Bouquet de bonne intensité, subtil révélant une belle expression fruitée de baies noires et beaucoup de fraîcheur. Agréables notes de cassis accompagnée de la classique fraîcheur variétale du Cabernet. En bouche le vin élégant, précis. Il allie, à l'image des grands vins de Pauillac la finesse et la puissance. Les tannins sont serrés, parfaitement intégrés et en phase avec la race de la structure acide. Carruades dévoile sa construction avec beaucoup de délicatesse, de précision. Il y a de la rigueur, de la puissance et de bien grandes perspectives de gardes. Grande réussite.

Jamessuckling.com

99 / 100

par James Suckling le 26/01/2021

Wow. The aromas are so intense and refined at the same time, offering gorgeous blackcurrant, lead-pencil and orchid character. Such purity of fruit. Sleek and finely polished with a fine cut to the tannins that provide such grace and glamor. Yet, it’s got the power and structure to age for decades. On and on. Try after 2029.

Decanter.com

98 / 100

par Jane Anson le 12/01/2021

Vinous

95-97 / 100

par Neal Martin le 15/11/2019

The 2018 Lafite-Rothschild was picked September 17-25 for the Merlot and September 25 to October 4 for the Cabernet Sauvignon. It has a very intense bouquet of blackberry, tar, tobacco and graphite aromas. It feels extremely cohesive and harmonious, gaining vigor with aeration over 30 minutes. The pure, refined palate is medium-bodied with an arresting satiny texture, perfect acidity and an undercurrent of cracked black pepper and sage. This is a great Lafite-Rothschild that might end up challenging the 2016, though I concur with winemaker Eric Kohler that it is unlikely to surpass it. The 2018 Lafite-Rothschild is certainly impressive, and at 13.3% alcohol, you will not need so much aspirin the following day.

WeinWisser

20 / 20

le 07/05/2019

Vinous

93-96 / 100

par Antonio Galloni le 03/05/2019

The 2018 Lafite-Rothschild is creamy, sensual and inviting, with lovely purity of fruit and impeccable balance. Dark cherry, plum, licorice and spice are some of the many nuances that develop. Time in the glass brings out striking aromatic depth and overall persistence. Although an undeniably attractive wine, the 2018 does not appear to have the sheer pedigree of the very best wines in this vintage. None of the three samples I tasted were as impressive as I had hoped for. Perhaps I had bad luck. Time will tell. The blend is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot.

Jeb DUNNUCK

96-98 / 100

par Jeb Dunnuck le 01/05/2019

What will unquestionably be another magical wine from Eric Kohler and his team, the 2018 Château Lafite checks in as 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Merlot, and just a splash of Petit Verdot. It's a classic Lafite that offers a deep purple/ruby color and beautiful notes of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, tobacco, cedar, and graphite. Flawlessly balanced, full-bodied, and seamless, it's a wine that builds incrementally on the palate, offering incredible finesse, ripe, present tannins, and a great finish. It reminds me of a more elegant version of the 2016 and should be approachable with just 5-6 years of cellaring and keep just about forever.

Vinifera

100 /

par Jacques Perrin le 01/05/2019

Emouvant. Grande noblesse d'expression sur un fond de fruits noirs et d'épices avec la note de cèdre inimitable propre au cru. Le corps est magnifiquement sculpté, d'une architecture millimétrique. Il déroule sa structure en douceur mais avec une trame d'une précision implacable, une dynamique de fraîcheur et une sève magnifiques. Longueur époustouflante.    

La Revue du Vin de France

19-20 / 20

le 24/04/2019

The Wine Cellar Insider

98-100 / 100

par Jeff Leve le 23/04/2019

The color matches a long obscured ruby jewel. The initial sip shows its sophistication, grace and refinement and there is an extraordinary purity in the fruit. Before taking a second sip for confirmation, you'll find tobacco, lead pencil, cedar, flowers, cherry pipe tobacco and if you dig really deep, you'll discover a subtle essence of orange in the background. On the palate, the wine is supple, silky, long and focused. Precision is an often misunderstood term used by wine writers. 2018 Lafite Rothschild is the poster child for precision in a wine. Never the most powerful of the First Growths, instead here, you find a wine of perfect balance, elegance and harmony with a unified, seemingly endless finish. Produced from a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Merlot and .5% Petit Verdot, the wine reached 13.3% alcohol with a pH of 3.73. The Grand Vin represents 40% of the harvest, which took place September 17 to September October 4.

Wine Advocate

98-100 / 100

par Lisa Perrotti-Brown le 23/04/2019

The 2018 Lafite Rothschild is blended of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot and has 13.3% alcohol. The Merlot was harvested September 17-24, the Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested September 25 to October 5, and the Cabernet Franc was harvested on September 24. It has a deep purple-black color and then WOW—what a nose. It comes sashaying out of the glass with bags of grace and perfume, revealing notions of lilacs, red roses, fragrant soil, cinnamon stick and Morello cherries with a core of blackcurrant cordial, fresh black plums, redcurrant jelly and tapenade plus a waft of iron ore. Medium-bodied, the palate has wonderful, tightly wound layers of black, red and blue fruits intermingled with floral, earth and mineral notions and a rock-solid frame of the most finely pixelated tannins you can possibly imagine. Anyone who wants to see what I mean when I babble about the Lafite tannins needs to try this benchmark. The finish goes on, and on, and on. If this wine doesn’t get Bordeaux lovers hearts' racing, nothing will.

Wine Enthusiast

96-98 / 100

par Roger Voss le 17/04/2019

This wine is packed with plenty of dark fruits and structured tannins that offer an immense power, while also keeping the elegance and richness of a grand Pauillac. With 91% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, the wine has fine tannins as well as bright acidity. It is a great wine with a long-term future.

Decanter.com

98-100 / 100

par Jane Anson le 17/04/2019

This is silky and delicious and juicy, not something you can often say about a Lafite En Primeur sample but before you even get close to tasting the wine you can feel the layers building.
It has the precision, the freshness and the sense of effortless elegance that Lafite always conveys with lots of power and depth, deep black fruits on the nose and a mix of spices from rosemary to saffron on the palate.
Is it better than the 2016? It’s hard to say at this stage but it certainly feels its equal, although differently constructed and unlikely to take as long to come around - think 10 rather than 14 years before reaching its drinking window.
It's worth adding that very few wines have been so unmarked by the extremes of the vintage, or as technical director Eric Kohler puts it; 'Even after 25 years of working at Lafite I continue to be full of admiration for this terroir. Other plots that we own reacted to the heat at times, but Lafite just kept sailing on as usual'.
The harvest took place between 17 September and 5 October, with a yield of 40hl/ha. 40% of the production went into the grand vin. 3.75pH which is classic for them. 74IPT.

Jamessuckling.com

99-100 / 100

par James Suckling le 12/04/2019

A very compact and linear Lafite with a fantastic mouthfeel of intense but ever so refined tannins that draw a straight line through the middle of the wine. It’s full-bodied yet compact with complex character of plums, blackcurrants, cigar tobacco, cedar and hints of hazelnuts and coffee. Salty. Orange zest at the end. Delicacy with power. Richness with softness. Glamorous. Lasts for minutes at the finish.