2009 Chateau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac 750 ml

• Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2009
• France
• Pauillac

• The Story

  Lafite is a bucket-list wine in any vintage, but when it comes from a year that Robert Parker called  “unquestionably the greatest Bordeaux vintage I have ever tasted,” it’s even more. This is the height of Bordeaux and one of the world’s greatest collector wines, showing Pauillac in full flush. We’re thrilled to have 30 bottles available, directly from the cellars of the venerable château—you won't find better provenance anywhere.

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• Wine Facts

  • Fruit Intensity
  • Oak Intensity
  • Body
  • Acidity
  • Tannin

  • ABV 13.50%
  • 2 hours
  • Now - 2050
  • 82% Cabernet Sauvignon
    17% Merlot
    1% Petit Verdot
  • Serving temperature - 60°
  • Cork

• Wine Access Tasting Note

  Medium ruby with a dark core and slightly faded edges. Powerful yet sleek nose of blackberry, cassis, kirsch, leather, and cigar box. Concentrated and lush on the palate, with elegant flavors of crushed violets, licorice, espresso, vanilla bean, tobacco, black tea, and fresh laurel. Layered and complex, with a near-perfect balance of savory and earthy tones that offset the ripe black fruit. Velvety smooth and silky, with rounded tannins. Loads of structure indicate a long life ahead. Drink now–2050. 

• Food Pairings

  • Hard Cheese
  • Cured Meat
  • Red Meat

• Critic Reviews

  100 pts

  James Suckling

  This is what the Medoc is all about. The freshness and delicacy of this wine in combination with its serious concentration and firm core are totally stunning. Time has already worked its magic and this is already delicious, but has decades in front of it. Drink or hold.

  99+ pts

  Wine Advocate

  The main reason the 2009 Lafite Rothschild did not receive a perfect score is because the wine has closed down slightly, but it is unquestionably another profound Lafite, their greatest wine since the amazing 2003. Among the most powerful Lafites ever made (it came in at 13.59% alcohol), the final blend was 82.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot. The selection was incredibly severe with only 45% of the crop being utilized. A tight, but potentially gorgeous nose of graphite, black currants, licorice and camphor is followed by a full-bodied wine revealing the classic elegance, purity and delineated style of Lafite. It is phenomenally concentrated with softer tannins than the 2005, the 2003's voluptuous, broad, juicy personality, and low acidity. There are several vintages that I thought were a replay of their colossal 1959, most notably 1982 and 2003, but 2009 is also one to keep an eye on. It is still extremely youthful and seems slightly more backward than I would have guessed based on the barrel tastings, but it needs 10-15 years of bottle age, and should last for 50+.

  99 pts

  Decanter

  This wine is stunningly impressive but almost the opposite of the 2010 vintage. The year offered a warm, wet spring followed by a hot, dry summer and cool nights in September, giving a riper, more generous impression. A bit of smoke and spice on the initial attack with a ripe, plummy fruit character that is more black than red and a supple, dense richness on the palate that lingers sumptuously on the finish. This vintage will drink sooner than the 2010, yet should easily last as long. The finished wine is a blend of 82.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and a half-percent of Petit Verdot. Picking began in mid-September for the Merlot and early October for the Cabernet, with 45% of the fruit going into the grand vin.