Chateau Lafon-Rochet 2011
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a wine that has great potential—you can tell from the firm tannins, tight acidity and closed texture. Initially, black currant flavors are touched with dark, dusty notes, but they finish with more juicy character on the afterntaste. Drink from 2017.
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Wine Spectator
This has a chunky feel, with charcoal and cassis bush notes out front, followed by plum skin, steeped black currant and blackberry coulis flavors. A charcoal hint strides back in on the finish, with fresh acidity buried throughout. Should age well.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep, fully saturated purple-ruby. Herbs, coffee, blackberry and minerals on the nose. Enters rich dense and juicy, but turns austere on the back end, finishing with moderately complex blackberry and blackcurrant flavors and good persistence. The finish is clean and pure, no easy accomplishment due to the hail that hit the vineyards at the beginning of September. This is very well made but lacks a little generosity. Basil Tesseron and his father Michel did a great job in this difficult year: stay tuned for some exciting developments at this property in the near future.
Barrel Sample: 87-90 Points
Other Vintages
2022- Vinous
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James
Suckling - Decanter
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
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James
Suckling - Decanter
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
- Vinous
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Wine
Enthusiast - Decanter
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Spectator -
James
Suckling - Decanter
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Robert
Parker
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Wine
Enthusiast - Decanter
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James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Spectator -
Wilfred
Wong -
Robert
Parker
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Wine
Enthusiast - Decanter
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
- Vinous
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Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling - Decanter
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Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck - Vinous
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James
Suckling - Decanter
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Robert
Parker
- Vinous
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast - Decanter
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Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
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James
Suckling - Vinous
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Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast - Vinous
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Wine
Spectator
- Vinous
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
- Vinous
- Vinous
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Wine &
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Robert
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Connoisseurs'
Guide -
Wine
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Robert
Parker - Vinous
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Wine
Spectator - Vinous
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Robert
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Robert
Parker
The chateau is in a choice location, in one of the most prestigious winegrowing areas in the world – between Cos d'Estoumel and Lafite-Rothschild (to the south). It is thus hardly surprising that Guy Tesseron, famous for the quality of his old Cognac, was attracted to Lafon-Rochet some 40 years ago.
After acquiring the estate, he decided that the existing cellar was unworthy of such a fine wine, and had it razed. He built an entirely new one and, in a highly unusual move, built a new chateau as well, in the style of the 17th century chartreuse manor house. Thanks to the great care and attention lavished on Lafon-Rochet, it has become one of the standard bearers of the great wines of Saint-Estèphe in France and around the world.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Deeply colored, concentrated, and distinctive, St. Estephe is the go-to for great, age-worthy and reliable Bordeaux reds. Separated from Pauillac merely by a stream, St. Estephe is the farthest northwest of the highest classed villages of the Haut Medoc and is therefore subject to the most intense maritime influence of the Atlantic.
St. Estephe soils are rich in gravel like all of the best sites of the Haut Medoc but here the formation of gravel over clay creates a cooler atmosphere for its vines compared to those in the villages farther downstream. This results in delayed ripening and wines with higher acidity compared to the other villages.
While they can seem a bit austere when young, St. Estephe reds prove to live very long in the cellar. Traitionally dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, many producers now add a significant proportion of Merlot to the blend, which will soften any sharp edges of the more tannic, Cabernet.
The St. Estephe village contains two second growths, Chateau Montrose and Cos d’Estournel.