2002 Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
Another Indian summer vintage (with useful northerly winds) that followed a difficult July and August. This has still-tight tannins and remains deep in colour, with just the very beginnings of whispering its age. After a few minutes in the glass, cigar notes curl up and out, followed by beautifully elegant, savoury-edged black fruit and tea leaf notes. This was extremely austere at first, but it's now beginning to soften and is likely to develop similarly to the 1999, which makes it one to watch. Will reward further cellaring.
Drink 2018 - 2030
Jane Anson, Decanter.com (May 2018)
Tasted at the château.
The 2002 Lafite-Rothschild is surprisingly dark in colour. It also has a surprisingly concentrated blackberry, sous-bois, and brine bouquet. Hints of steaming cups of espresso percolate through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a little chewiness on the entry. It is quite briny and saline, a little rustic in terms of tannic profile, and perhaps only on the finish do the limitations of the growing season show.
Drink 2022 - 2040
Neil Martin, Vinous.com (September 2022)
A brilliant offering and a candidate for wine of the vintage, this is classic Lafite that reminded me somewhat of the 1976, although the vintage conditions were completely different. This is a medium-weight, quintessentially elegant style of Lafite with notes of lead pencil shavings/graphite along with black currants, plums, and crushed rocks/mineral. Wonderfully pure, dense, with a deep ruby/purple colour and loads of fruit, definition, and a long finish, this is a brilliant, elegant Lafite Rothschild that builds incrementally in the mouth and has more power and density than it initially seems.
Drink 2008 - 2025
Robert M. Parker, Jr., Wine Advocate (April 2005)
The Indian summer, this great weather in early autumn, once again saved a vintage that conveyed deep emotions to the passionate winegrowers that we are. We had known since May that the crop would not be large, flowering having taken place under cold and damp conditions, favouring poor fruit set and uneven ripening. The heat in June had given us high hopes but was quickly dashed by a grey and rainy July and August. In early September, therefore, the Bordelais were not very confident. But long live the Indian summer that accompanied the final ripening of the grapes under exceptional conditions!
This was our first mystery vintage, served blind. I initially guessed 2001, largely because I'd put 2002 completely out of my mind. It is very rich and nuanced on the nose, and then there is an impression of sweet ink before sweet, soft fruit that almost covers the perceptible tannins that impart a slightly drying finish. The acidity is a little obvious. It's just slightly pinched and awkward at the moment, and the balance is less than perfect, but it's very good for a 2002!
Drink 2020 - 2035
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (May 2018)
87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.5% Merlot and 3.5% Cabernet Franc.
Bright medium ruby. Brooding, precise, perfumed aromas of raw cassis, blueberry, bitter cherry, violet, cedar, bitter chocolate and camphor. Pure, austere and penetrating; almost painfully intense today and closed in on itself, with its acids and tannins currently in opposition. It shows a slight bitter streak, as young Lafite often does in firm vintages. But the very long, slow-mounting finish and superb clarity of flavour suggest that this will be an excellent Lafite in a distinctly uncompromising style.
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com (May 2003)
About this WINE
Château Lafite Rothschild
The iconic Château Lafite Rothschild was classified as a first growth in 1855 and has been in the Rothschild family since 1868. Today, Lafite is headed up by Saskia de Rothschild, daughter of long-time steward Baron Eric de Rothschild.
Château Lafite Rothschild is an iconic first-growth property in the Pauillac appellation of Bordeaux, France. It achieved its top-tier rank in 1855 and has been in the Rothschild family since 1868. Today, Lafite is headed up by Saskia de Rothschild, daughter of long-time steward Baron Eric de Rothschild.
The property is located at the northern tip of Pauillac, separated by St Estèphe by marshland and the Jalle de Breuil stream. Two areas of the vineyard are particularly notable: the gravel plateau, which is the heart of the grand vin; and the Plateau de Carruades, from which Lafite’s second wine takes its name. The vineyard is planted mostly to Cabernet Sauvignon (70%), along with Merlot (25%), Cabernet Franc (3%) and Petit Verdot (2%).
A new cellar was completed here in time for the 2011 harvest, with a combination of stainless steel and concrete tanks, of varying sizes. The barrels come from Lafite’s own cooperage, located not far from the property.
In addition to its 110 hectares of vines, the estate has 300 hectares of woods and marshes. The team consider this to be an integral part of the ecosystem.
Pauillac
Pauillac is the aristocrat of the Médoc boasting boasting 75 percent of the region’s First Growths and with Grand Cru Classés representing 84 percent of Pauillac's production.
For a small town, surrounded by so many familiar and regal names, Pauillac imparts a slightly seedy impression. There are no grand hotels or restaurants – with the honourable exception of the establishments owned by Jean-Michel Cazes – rather a small port and yacht harbour, and a dominant petrochemical plant.
Yet outside the town, , there is arguably the greatest concentration of fabulous vineyards throughout all Bordeaux, including three of the five First Growths. Bordering St Estèphe to the north and St Julien to the south, Pauillac has fine, deep gravel soils with important iron and marl deposits, and a subtle, softly-rolling landscape, cut by a series of small streams running into the Gironde. The vineyards are located on two gravel-rich plateaux, one to the northwest of the town of Pauillac and the other to the south, with the vines reaching a greater depth than anywhere else in the Médoc.
Pauillac's first growths each have their own unique characteristics; Lafite Rothschild, tucked in the northern part of Pauillac on the St Estèphe border, produces Pauillac's most aromatically complex and subtly-flavoured wine. Mouton Rothschild's vineyards lie on a well-drained gravel ridge and - with its high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon - can produce (in its best years) Pauillac's most decadently rich, fleshy and exotic wine.
Latour, arguably Bordeaux's most consistent First Growth, is located in southern Pauillac next to St Julien. Its soil is gravel-rich with superb drainage, and Latour's vines penetrate as far as five metres into the soil. It produces perhaps the most long-lived wines of the Médoc.
Recommended Châteaux
Ch. Lafite-Rothschild, Ch. Latour, Ch. Mouton-Rothschild, Ch. Pichon-Longueville Baron, Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Ch. Lynch-Bages, Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Ch, Pontet-Canet, Les Forts de Latour, Ch. Haut-Batailley, Ch. Batailley, Ch. Haut-Bages Libéral.
Cabernet Sauvignon blend
Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.
In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.
In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and Australia.
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Description
Only 41% of Lafite's production made its way into the grand vin in 2002, which is the commitment to quality here. The wine has an obviously classy perfumed nose with a fresh and appealing purity. This is replicated on the serious palate with its ripe strawberry and black cherry fruit lashings, new oak and firm tannins. From a relatively restrained start, the wine develops beautifully in the mouth, with smoky dark fruit and tobacco hints leading to a firm, long finish—a strong candidate for wine of the vintage in 2002.
Berry Bros. & Rudd
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