Wine With Bok - 10/10 Stars
INCOMPREHENSIBLE
I have been drinking Bordeaux for half my life, and I can tell you one wine in the whole Bordeaux that’s the most difficult to understand, even with my drinking experience – Lafite Rothschild. Nose of wet earth, wet rock, inky, graphite and strong powerful character. Palate was powerful, strong and rich which only 96 Lafite possessed this character as normally Lafite is of extreme elegance, and warm. Both characters were found in this vintage. Don’t understand Lafite? Drink more! (3/2017)
Decanter - 100 Points
An elegant but muscular Lafite, really summing up the trajectory that this wine takes over decades in a good vintage. It started out in its early years with huge concentration, more in fact than in many vintages, but it is now showcasing the subtlety and infinite range of flavours and aromatics that make Lafite such a singular wine. Expect layers of earth, cigar box, liquorice, cold ash, blackberry, cassis, pencil lead, mint leaf and crushed rock minerality. The first Lafite to be put in an anti-fraud engraved bottle. (4/2021)
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - 98 Points
The 1996 Lafite-Rothschild was remarkably deep in color considering that it is now 20 years in age. The bouquet is classic Pauillac with pencil shavings and sous-bois infusing the black fruit, masculine and a little aloof, yet focused and very well delineated. The palate is very well balanced with crisp blackberry and boysenberry fruit, spicier than I recollect, a crescendo of flavors so that it seems understated at first but fans out with a sense of confidence towards the finish. I think this still has more to give so cellar it away for another 5-8 years if you can, but otherwise this is an exemplary Lafite-Rothschild that I can envisage getting better and better in bottle, if not quite as enthralling as either Mouton-Rothschild or Château Margaux. (10/2016)
Specifications
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Sub-Region | Pauillac |
| Classification | 1st Growth Medoc |
| Vintage | 1996 |
| Grape | Cabernet / Merlot |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Critics Score | 100 Points |
| Bok Rating | 10/10 Stars |
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