Château LAFITE ROTHSCHILD 2022

Description

Jean-Marc Quarin 100 points www.quarin.com
Couleur noire. Nez intense, fin, fruité, subtil, noble, cacaoté et très distingué. Sophistiqué dès l’entrée en bouche, avec de la grâce dans le toucher, le vin fond opulent, subtil et en même temps complexe. Très, très grande finale noble, puissante et pourtant aérienne. Un ange passe ! Oh là là, impossible à cracher ! Assemblage : 94 % cabernet sauvignon, 5 % merlot, 1 % petit verdot. Degré d’alcool : 13°7 (moyenne plus, 13°3 en 2018). PH : 3,85. Rendement : 38 hl/ha.

Yves Beck 100 points www.yvesbeck.wine

Dégusté le 16.12.2024 par Yves Beck

94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot

La fraîcheur que Carruades annonçait n’est pas que plussoyée par Lafite, mais littéralement dynamisée, avec une bluffante évidence, sans compromis et avec précision. Soucieux d’équilibre, le bouquet révèle même d’invraisemblables nuances confites pour créer une exceptionnelle symbiose. La profondeur suggérée par le bouquet est parfaitement assimilée par le palais. Le vin se positionne avec finesse et sérénité dès l’attaque. Conscient de sa vigueur, le vin commence par afficher quelque tannins qui soulignent leur puissance, sans que celle-ci ne soit envahissante, quoique l’on bascule presque du côté de la force obscure ! Ce sont finalement la raison, respectivement la finesse, les détails, la précision qui mènent le bal et qui donnent naissance à un très grand Lafite Rothschild. Il s’est toujours révélé lentement, ce n’est pas nouveau, mais il le fait d’une manière décontractée, avec assurance et persuasion. Les extraits secs des tannins assurent idéalement les arrières ; ils se font structurants, rafraîchissants et vont de pair avec le tempérament d’une structure acide bien aiguisée, même s’il y en a finalement peu. Une fine et subtile austérité se charge donc de faire saliver le palais et d’étirer la persistance de la finale. Un vin d’un niveau exceptionnel.  2029-2057

Antonio Galloni 96-98 www.vinous.com
The 2022 Lafite Rothschild is shaping up to be one of the wines of the vintage. All of the Lafite signatures are present, but what impresses most about the 2022 it its poise, its stature. Readers will find a regal, statuesque Lafite built for serious aging. There’s tons of fruit and tannin, all masterfully put together. A modern-day classic.

Georgina Hindle 98 points  www.decanter.com
A wonderful example of restraint and delicacy in a year where it was easy to overdo. Sharp and straight, you feel the acidity as soon as this enters the mouth, alive, pulsing, bright and shining. Aromatically so expressive after a few minutes. Delicate almost, such a fine tapestry of tannins, present and at the fore but like taffeta or finely woven silk. It has power but you don’t feel it, not instantly anyway, the focus is on the beautiful texture with edges of cool red and blue fruits, flint, graphite, liquorice and tobacco nuances with high acidity that all help build a layered and well constructed mid palate. The structure then focuses and narrows to a mineral, fresh finish. Has bite and succulence, gently muscular with tons of vibrancy. This is definitely one of the less showy wines that really grows on you. A delicious, defined, poised, refined and finessed Lafite. Calm, collected and incredibly charming already. Earliest harvest in over a century, 31 August to 24 September. 17.5% press wine. 3.8pH. 64IPT. 41% grand vin production.

William Kelley 95-97+ points www.erobertparker.com
A blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2022 Lafite Rothschild unwinds in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cassis, sweet soils tones, cigar box and lilac. Medium to full-bodied, it’s the most tensile of the first growths this year, with a layered, concentrated but youthfully introverted mid-palate, lively acids and a long, saline finish. It checks in at a rather high pH of 3.85, which belies its incisive profile, from a harvest that extended from August 31 to September 24

Neal Martin 96-98 www.vinous.com
The 2022 Lafite-Rothschild was picked from 31 August to 24 September and apart from the 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, there is 17.5% pressed wine in the blend. The IPT is slightly lower than 2020. There is 13.6% alcohol this year, higher than 2018 and 2019. It has an intense bouquet with blackberry, crushed stone, touches of pencil box and undergrowth, very Lafite-Rothschild in style. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, perfectly judged acidity, linear and focused. Compared to vintages a couple of decades ago, there is mid-palate weight, yet it retains classicism and transparency, while delivering quite a gentle but insistent grip on the finish. Perpetually the most deceptive of First Growth, one should not doubt its long-term potential.

Jeb Dunnuck 97-99 points www.jebdunnuck.com
The 2022 Château Lafite-Rothschild is based on 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot that was harvested between the 31st of August and the 24th of September. It’s a richer, more opulent wine compared to the more classic 2020 (although the pH is higher in the 2020) and has a deep, full-bodied, concentrated profile as well as classic Lafite aromatics of spicy red and black fruits, freshly sharpened pencils, graphite, and tobacco. Deep, rich, and concentrated, it nevertheless stays pure and flawlessly balanced, with ample, ripe tannins and a great finish. It’s going to have some up-front appeal by Lafite standards but should still require a decade of bottle age. Director Eric Koher compares this to the 2005, but this modern-day clone of the 1959 is one of the most powerful, concentrated Lafites I’ve tasted.