Chateau Lafon Rochet 2021 750 ml

A firm and linear wine with blackberry and blackcurrant character. Medium body. Creamy. Focused for the vintage. Turns to plums and citrus at the end. From organically grown grapes.

The 2021 Lafon-Rochet is very good, although there are some rustic contours that are impossible to look past. Dark fruit, spice, lavender and licorice are some of the notes that open in the glass. 

Super ripe and perfumed on the nose. Bright, almost searing on the palate then chalky with a crystalline mineral edged finish. Clean and precise, lacks a touch more density on the mid palate, but this is well worked with balance and a long salty finish.

The last vintage made by Basile Tesseron and 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Melot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the 2021 Chateau Lafon-Rochet is outstanding stuff that clearly does well in the vintage. Cassis, graphite, lead pencil, and ripe tobacco notes all give way to a medium-bodied Saint-Estephe with fine tannins, solid concentration (especially in the vintage), and a balanced, layered, seamless profile that will evolve nicely for two decades. The tannin quality here is terrific.

The 2021 Lafon-Rochet offers up aromas of cassis, licorice and pencil shavings, followed by a medium-bodied, supple and charming palate that's seamless and harmonious, framed by soft, powdery tannins, concluding with a minty finish.