2009 Château Lafon-Rochet
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Tasting notes
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.
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Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
The 2009 Lafon-Rochet has a splendid bouquet with dark cherries, iodine, violet and iris flower, certainly the most precocious Lafon-Rochet on the nose thus far. The palate is medium-bodied with very good concentration, rounded in texture and counterbalanced with a fine bead of acidity. Layers of red fruit mixed with spice and cedar demonstrate acceptable length. Tasted at the Lafon-Rochet vertical at the property.
The 2009 Lafon-Rochet feels just a little pinched at first, but it soon opens with blackberry, bilberry, cedar and antique armchair aromas. Very fine delineation here. The palate is medium-bodied with supple and very fine tannin, pure black fruit laced with cedar and black pepper, segueing into a slightly earthy but persistent finish. Maybe it just needs a little more grip but otherwise this is a great Lafon-Rochet from Basile Tesseron. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.
About the producer
Instantly recognisable for its sunshine-yellow château and labels, Ch. Lafon-Rochet is a Fourth Growth Saint-Estèphe estate renowned for its age-worthy wines. Quality at the property has increased significantly over the last two decades and, with new owners from 2021, this will only continue.