2024 Château Lafite Rothschild 1. Cru Classé

James Suckling - 96-97

A more Burgundian vintage for Lafite, with cedar, graphite, paprika, white pepper and fresh red fruit. Nuanced and refined, with a medium body and understated fruit. Intensity and concentration. It shows the Lafite hallmark of elegance, with more fluidity and crunch this year. Very long and delicate. 96% cabernet sauvignon, 3% merlot and 1% petit verdot.

Vinous - 95-97

According to Technical Director Eric Kohler, the 2024 Lafite-Rothschild was picked from September 23 to October 7 and underwent a short vinification—less than three weeks—plus a gentle extraction. The blend includes 16% vin de presse. It has an understated and typical Lafite nose with crushed stone infusing the black fruit, black olive tapenade and marine scents. It comes across as statesmanlike, which is just how you want your First Growth, even in a tricky vintage like this. The palate is medium-bodied with fresh saline notes on the entry. Tensile from the start, this has very impressive focus and is a tad more peppery than previous vintages. This is an assured Lafite-Rothschild with a very seaweed/Japanese wakame-tinged finish. Very promising and one of the very few "cerebral" Left Bank wines in 2024.

Decanter - 96

Fragranced red berries and purple flowers. Vivid purple colour in the glass. Supple and generous, this has a punch of plum and cranberry fruit straight away, zingy and lively but wonderfully textured too. Chalky, a little bitter, but soft and long. Juicy but more high toned and sleek, tension is there in the live wire nature of the wine. Bright, focussed, not so calm - more energy to the fore with prominent tannins but a lovely weight and plenty of fruit flavour! A vintage where Lafite excels once again. 16% press. 3.75pH. A yield of 32hl/ha.