Château Lafite Rothschild, 2025
Château Lafite Rothschild, 2025
- 75cl
- 12.5%
- Red Still
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot
- Organic
Please note, en primeur wines are not available for delivery until they arrive in the UK
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Est. delivery in 2028
Château Lafite Rothschild needs no introduction, but we'll give it one anyway. This is Pauillac's most elegant first growth, where Cabernet Sauvignon finds its most refined expression on the gravelly plateau overlooking the Gironde.
100 POINTS YVES BECK
100 POINTS JEAN-MARC QUARIN
98–100 POINTS, JEFF LEVE, WINE CELLAR INSIDER
Lafite's vineyards sprawl across three distinctive terraces of deep Günz gravel mixed with aeolian sand, sitting 27 metres above the Gironde estuary. The proximity to water moderates temperatures while the gravel provides excellent drainage and heat retention. The estate's finest parcels face southeast on gentle slopes, where old Cabernet Sauvignon vines dig deep into limestone subsoil, creating wines of extraordinary mineral complexity and longevity.
Pauillac represents the pinnacle of Left Bank Bordeaux, home to three of the five First Growths and blessed with the deepest gravel beds in the Médoc. The appellation's wines are defined by Cabernet Sauvignon's power and structure, tempered by the maritime climate of the Gironde. Lafite sits at the northern edge of Pauillac, bordering Saint-Estèphe, where cooler conditions and different soil composition create wines of particular finesse and longevity compared to the more muscular southern estates.
The 2025 Bordeaux vintage emerged from one of the most demanding growing seasons in recent memory — the earliest budbreak since 1989, June temperatures second only to 2003 since records began, and an unusually early harvest beginning in August for the whites. Conditions that should have produced heavy, overripe wines. They didn't. Decanter's Georgie Hindle, who tasted close to 200 wines ahead of the formal campaign, describes "exceptional concentration, aromatic purity and a freshness that contradicts the record-breaking heat.
The early critical consensus places 2025 stylistically between the precision of 2020 and the structure of 2016, with the brightness of 2023 — a combination that suggests a very serious vintage indeed. Yields are dramatically low, the smallest crop since 1991, with production across the Gironde running around 15% below the five-year average. The quality is here. There simply isn't very much of it.
What the critics say:
"The 2025 Lafite-Rothschild was cropped at 27 hi/ha between September 2 and 20. Eric Kohler mentioned that, unlike 2022, it underwent a longer maceration than usual because, after 24 days, he felt the wine was at ease with itself and there was no excess. That comes through completely on the deliriously intoxicating nose, replete with nuanced blackberry, bilberry and estuarine scents, all beautifully defined and seamlessly integrated with the 90% new oak that is made from Lafite's own cooper. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiselled tannins. It is blessed with extraordinary harmony and it is so well balanced that you almost overlook the weight and minéralité towards the finish. Just a dab of graphite lingers on the aftertaste. This is a very succinct and refined Lafite-Rothschild that I suspect will drink earlier than the 2022, yet will age with equal grace in bottle. I admit that, upon returning to my car, it was only then that I realised what a brilliant wine the 2025 Lafite-Rothschild is destined to become. "
"The 2025 Lafite-Rothschild is powerful and explosive in the glass. Dark cherry/plum fruit, graphite, new leather, graphite, licorice and lavender race across the palate. A Pauillac of mid-weight structure, the 2025 impresses with its tension and deep, layered personality. Even in the early going, the Grand Vin is so vivid, so expressive. I can't wait to taste it in finished form. For those who love data."
"Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate edge brightening. Floral touch, delicate roses, dark wild berries, candied violets, delicate licorice, some velour, multi-faceted, inviting bouquet. Juicy, elegant, red cherries, delicate redcurrants, fine, silky tannins, a hint of lime, salty minerality, delicate, full of finesse and long-lasting, sure maturity potential. Lafite absolu."
"The extremely high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend should not deceive – it's actually around the average for the last 10 years. This is staggeringly beautiful, cool and haunting as I somehow knew it would be. It captures the essence of the vintage better than any other single wine. The attack is utterly sublime, just divine, with a touch of violet alongside the intense but soft, subtle and delicate dark berry fruits. There's plungepool clarity and freshness in its shimmering depth and great concentration at the core. A wine of breathtaking potential but also one that is brilliantly accessible. Long and gently tapering on the finish with the return of those hauntingly beautiful violet notes. Un Lafite absolu! A wine that breaks my scoring system; it couldn't be anything other than 100 points."
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Château Lafite Rothschild
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