2017 CH LAFON ROCHET 4ÈME CRU ST ESTÈPHE - 12x75cl

Tasting Notes

• 

  Goedhuis, April 2018,
  Score: 90-92

  Lafon Rochet have welcomed the same team of pickers for the past 30 years, and more than most estates in the Médoc, this place really feels like a family business. Basile Tesseron decided to harvest a little later than some neighbours, and after a few early passes started in earnest from 20th September. Thanks to the coolness of sugar accumulation during the cloudy summer, this tastes anything but over-ripe. There is a lightness to the hedgerow fruit and a flow to the plush tannins. 55% Cabernet Sauvignon gives fresh structure and is expertly blended with the 34% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. It is a graceful example from this excellent value property.

• 

  Neal Martin, April 2018,
  Score: 91-93

  The 2017 Lafon-Rochet has matured in 50% new oak and the remainder in one-year old. I have to say, the bouquet is very expressive with plenty of blackberry, wild hedgerow, oyster shell and pressed flower that blossom in the glass. It is very well defined and more sophisticated than I have detected in recent vintages. Perhaps this is the first vintage where the new winery, replete with concrete vats, has really played a serious role in meliorating quality. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, quite saline in the mouth with just a hint of black olive. There is a slightly grainy texture with a sustained peppery finish, completing a crisp and vivacious Lafon-Rochet that should please many wine-lovers. Expect this to land at the top of my banded score. 2020 - 2040

• 

  Antonio Galloni, April 2018,
  Score: 89-91

  The 2017 Lafon-Rochet is wonderfully deep and fleshy, but in the mid-weight style that is typical of the year. Dark red and purplish fruit, lavender, licorice, spice and leather all flesh out in this attractive, if somewhat understated, wine from Lafon-Rochet. Silky tannins accompany the mid-weight finish nicely. The 2017 is a very pretty wine, although it is a touch light in this vintage. Tasted three times.

• 

  Wine Advocate, April 2018,
  Score: 85-87

  Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Lafon-Rochet gives up subtle cassis and black cherry notes with hints of sautéed herbs, damp soil and pencil lead. Medium-bodied and slightly thin in the mouth, it has a well-played chewy texture and nice freshness, finishing with an herbal lift.

• 

  James Suckling, April 2018,
  Score: 92-93

  Solid, ultra-clean 2017 with a very pretty core of fruit and chewy tannins. Flavorful and fresh. Extremely long and focused.

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  Decanter, April 2018,
  Score: 93

  This is a lovely St-Estèphe this year, firm and bright with bristling fruit right out of the gate - hugely unusual to see that this year. This is one of my favourites, and is totally charming with its cassis and damson fruit, but it's the juice and friendly tension that sets it apart. Silky and enjoyable. Buy. Drinking Window 2025 - 2040

• 

  Matthew Jukes, April 2018,
  Score: 17.5+

  Very impressive with a rich nose, deep fruit and a full finish, this is a powerful wine but nothing is forced and the oak and alcohol only serve to underpin the dark, inky fruit.

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  Jancis Robinson, April 2018,
  Score: 16.5

  Tangy, almost salty, nose. Smooth, layered, very fine texture. Not hugely fruity but balanced with a long, elegant aftertaste following a relatively light mid palate. Longer than it is deep but attractive. (JH) Drink 2024-2032

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Producer

Château Lafon-Rochet

Ch Lafon Rochet is ideally situated due northwest of Lafite and west of Cos d'Estournel. Though its terroir is exceptional, many critics believed that earlier vintages in the 1970s and 1980s were too tannic and lacked charm. Since the 1990s, it has steadily improved due to several factors such as harvesting later, increasing the amount of new oak and using a higher percentage of Merlot in the blend - a trend which has a strong following in St Estèphe at the moment. The property has been in the hands of the Tesseron family since 1959 and the property has been managed by the third generation of the family, Basile Tesseron, since 2007.