2021 Château Lafon-Rochet, St Estèphe, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
The 2021 Lafon-Rochet was picked from 27 September to 8 October with no break between the varieties. There was just a small green harvest resulting in yields of 30hL/ha. It was matured in 50% new oak. It has a tightly wound, backward bouquet with blackberry, briar and graphite scents, quite Pauillac in style (you might see the irony in that). The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins, quite firm with a solid backbone. Fresh and slightly muscular on the finish. Fine, but not quite as chiselled as others this year. 13% alcohol.
Drink 2024 - 2040
Neal Martin, vinous.com, (May 2022)
Saline and linear, blueberry and raspberry fruits, with a touch of greengage and raspberry leaf that suggests things are just skirting ripenss. Floral aromatics lift things up as it travels through the palate, but the finish is soft and a little diluted. Plenty of change happening at this 41ha estate that is located just over the border from Pauillac, next to Lafite and Cos d'Estournel, with Jacky Lorenzetti arriving as new owner in January 2022, and Christophe Congé appointed technical director a few months later, arriving from Lafite, making 2021 a transition vintage - particularly difficult in such a tough year. 32hl/h yield, 70% 1st wine. 2nd year in official conversion to organic, wll be certified with 2023 vintage. Harvest 27 to October 8. 30hl/h yield, 50% new oak. Tasted twice.
Drink 2025 - 2038
Jane Anson, janeanson.com (May 2022)
New regime here with Basile Tesseron having sold and Jean-Claude Berrouet and Eric Boissenot having blended the 2021 for the new managing director, ex-Lafite winemaker Christophe Congé, on 7 March. Cask sample. Quite luscious and almost more luscious than the St-Estèphe norm. Although it finishes on a distinctly stony note. Set for the long term with no shortage of character or ripe fruit. Persistence is pretty impressive! This is almost a 17 though for the moment the finish is a little bit pinched.
Drink 2029 - 2045
Jancis Robinson, jancisrobinson.com (May 2022)
The last vintage produced under the Tesseron family, the 2021 Lafon-Rochet exhibits aromas of dark berries, plums, licorice and spices, followed by a medium-bodied, lively and succulent palate that's fleshy and layered, framed by powdery tannins. A charming, supple effort, it will drink well on release.
William Kelley, Wine Advocate (Apr 2022)
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. 69% cabernet sauvignon, 26% merlot, 4% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot.
James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (May 2022)
About this WINE
Chateau Lafon-Rochet
Château Lafon-Rochet is a 4ème Cru Classé St-Estèphe estate that has been owned by the Tesseron family since 1959. The property had been neglected and Guy Tesseron extensively replanted, as well as building a completely new château in "chartreuse" style. Today Lafon-Rochet is run by Albert and Michel Tesseron.
Lafon-Rochet's vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon 56%, Merlot 40%, Cabernet Franc 4%) lie on clay-gravel soils and are superbly sited in the south of the commune opposite Château Lafite. The wines are matured in oak barriques (40% new) for 18 months.
Lafon-Rochet's wines were, for many years, criticised for being excessively tannic and austere and generally were considered to lack charm. In the last decade or so, improved viticultural techniques and a greater percentage of Merlot in the final blend has led to purer expressions of fruit and the wines being generally more supple and elegant. Lafon-Rochet needs at least 10 years of bottle ageing to show at its best.
Saint-Estèphe
Saint-Estèphe is the northernmost of the most important communes of the Médoc and borders Pauillac on its southernmost border, with only a gully and stream separates it from Ch. Lafite. To the north lies the Bas-Médoc.
Saint-Estèphe is defined by the depth of its gravel, which is ubiquitous but of varying depths and occasionally very shallow, when clay predominates. This keeps the soil cooler and wetter than its counterparts so that the wines can appear fresh in lighter vintages, but superbly successful in hot, dry years.
The best châteaux in the south of the commune have the deepest soil and the thickest gravel. Cos d'Estournel has an exceptional terroir with its vineyards being located on a south-facing ridge of gravel with excellent drainage.
Saint-Estèphe is the least gravelly of main Médoc communes and in the north of the commune the vineyards are heavier and more clay-based leading to a rustic style of wine being produced.
The wines can appear austere in youth with a discernable ferric note at some châteaux, but the best typically display good depth of colour, pronounced acidity an tannins in youth and are exceptionally long-lived. At their best, they are the equal of almost any Bordeaux. The well-regarded St Estèphe co-operative controls the production of about half the appellation.
Recommended Châteaux
Cos (Ch. Cos d'Estournel), Ch. Montrose, Ch. Calon-Ségur, Ch. Lafon-Rochet, Ch. Les Ormes de Pez, Ch. Beau-Site, Ch. Cos Labory, Ch. Phélan-Ségur
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
Cabernet Sauvignon 69%, Merlot 26%, Cabernet Franc 4%, Petit Verdot 1%
This was Basile Tesseron’s last vintage before the estate was acquired by the Lorenzetti family in January 2022. The wine was fermented by the Tesseron team and the élevage will be completed by Christophe Congé, who has arrived from nearby Lafite Rothschild. At the moment, the familiar smooth textures and precise weave from the Tesseron era are still present; the wine is almost not like a St Estèphe. The influence of the vintage is felt only at the end of the palate, which just teeters towards pinched. Drink 2026-2037.
Our score: 15/20
Berry Bros. & Rudd, April 2022
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